A small plane operated by a private airline in Nepal with 22 people on board has disappeared, the airline and government officials said.
The Tara Airlines twin-engine plane was reportedly on a scheduled flight from the tourist town of Pokhara, about 200km northwest of the capital Kathmandu to Jomsom, about 80km northwest.
He lost contact with airport authorities shortly after taking off on Sunday morning at 9:55 a.m., the ANI news agency reported.
“The plane was seen over Jomsom’s sky in the Mustang district and then veered off Mount Dhaulagiri, after which it did not make contact,” Netra Chief District Officer Prasad Sharma was quoted as saying by ANI.
The 22 people aboard the missing Tara Air Twin Otter, number 9N-AET, included four Indians and two Germans, according to the Associated Press, citing a police officer who requested anonymity and was not authorized to speak to the media.
The handout image shows Tara Air DHC-6 Twin Otter, queue number 9N-AET, in Simicot, Nepal on December 1, 2021.
(Madhu Thapa / Distribution via Reuters)
It is reported that the planes on this route fly between the mountains before landing in the valley. It has been raining in the area in recent days.
Nepal is home to the highest mountains in the world and the route it takes is popular with foreign tourists walking on mountain trails.
Family members and relatives of passengers aboard the Tara Air Twin Otter aircraft cry outside Pokhara Airport on May 29
(AFP via Getty Images / Yunish Gurung)
Police officer Ramesh Tapa said there was no information about the plane and a search was under way, the Associated Press reported.
Authorities reportedly deployed two private helicopters from Mustang and Pokhara to search for the missing plane.
Tara Air operates a fleet of six STOL short take-off and landing aircraft, consisting of four Twin Otter (DHC 6/300) and two Dornier (DO 228) aircraft, according to the company’s website.
Its service is concentrated in the hills and mountains of the country from the Far East to the Far West, the company said.
Family members and relatives of passengers aboard the Twin Otter aircraft operated by Tara Air are crying outside Pokhara Airport
(AFP via Getty Images / Yunish Gurung)
According to local news, the plane is believed to have crashed in the Titi area of Lete in the Mustang mountain range, where the Muktinat temple is located.
“The locals from Titi called and informed us that they heard an unusual sound, as if there was a crash. We are deploying a helicopter in the area for the search operation, “Ram Kumar Dani, a senior police officer in the region, told ANI.
Tara airlines’ Twin Otter plane flying the same route crashed in 2016, killing all 23 on board. The wreckage of the plane was found in the jungle.
Another plane crash happened two years later, in which a passenger plane from Bangladesh crashed in Kathmandu in 2018, killing 49 of the 71 on board.
Investigators believe the crash was caused by the pilot’s “emotional breakdown” from work-related stress, according to a draft report.
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