KATHMANDU, Nepal –
Rescuers searching a mountain slope in Nepal on Monday found the bodies of 21 of the 22 people on board a plane that crashed a day earlier, officials said.
The search for the remaining man continues, said Kathmandu airport spokesman Tek Nat Sitaula.
Recovery efforts have been delayed as some bodies have been squeezed under the wreckage. Rescuers working with their bare hands had difficulty moving the metal debris.
Aerial photos of the crash site show parts of planes scattered on rocks and moss on the side of a mountain gorge.
The twin-turbocharged Twin Otter Tara Air lost contact with the airport tower on Sunday while flying on a planned 20-minute flight in an area of deep river gorges and mountain peaks.
Relatives waited most of the day at the airport for news about their loved ones.
Four Indians and two Germans were on the plane, Tara Air reported. The three crew members and other passengers were Nepalese nationals, the statement said.
The German news agency dpa reported that the two Germans were a man and a woman from the western province of Hesse.
“Unfortunately, at this point we have to assume that the two are no longer alive,” a spokesman for the Hessen state interior ministry was quoted as saying by dpa. “The relatives of the Hessen police have already been notified and care has been taken.”
Local news reports that the passengers are two Nepalese families, one with four members and the other with seven.
The army said the plane crashed in Sanosware in the Mustang district near the mountain town of Jomsom, where it was heading after taking off from the resort town of Pokhara, 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Kathmandu.
According to tracking data from flyradar24.com, the 43-year-old plane took off from Pokhara at 9:55 a.m. and transmitted its last signal at 10:07 a.m. at an altitude of 12,825 feet (3,900 meters).
The destination of the plane is popular among foreign tourists who walk on its mountain trails, as well as with Indian and Nepalese pilgrims who visit the revered Muktinath temple.
The remains were found by villagers searching the area for the Yarsagumba mushroom, commonly called Himalayan Viagra, according to local news.
Setopati’s new website quoted villager Bishal Magar as saying they had heard of the missing plane on Sunday, but only managed to reach the site on Monday morning after following the smell of fuel.
Magar said it appeared that the plane may have cut off the top of a smaller mountain and then crashed into a larger mountain.
The Twin Otter, a rugged aircraft originally built by Canadian aircraft maker De Havilland, has been in operation in Nepal for about 50 years, during which it has been involved in about 21 accidents, according to aviationnepal.com.
The aircraft with a top-mounted wing and a fixed landing gear is valuable for its endurance and ability to take off and land on short runways.
Initially, the production of aircraft ended in the 80s of last century. Another Canadian company, Viking Air, returned the model to production in 2010.
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