Rescue services have focused on a possible location of a passenger plane with 22 people on board that is feared to have crashed with cloudy weather in the mountains of Nepal, according to officials.
The Tara Air plane, which was on a 20-minute scheduled flight to the mountain town of Jomsom, took off on Sunday from the tourist resort of Pokhara, 200 kilometers east of Kathmandu.
The Twin Otter turboprop aircraft lost contact with the airport tower near landing in an area of deep river gorges and mountain tops.
Overview of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Sunday. (Photo AP / Niranjan Shr (AP)
An army helicopter and private helicopters were involved in the search, the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.
Army troops and rescue crews rushed to the scene of the crash, which is believed to be in the vicinity of Lete, a village in the Mustang district, said Narayan Silwal, a spokesman for the army, on Twitter.
“Poor visibility due to bad weather is hampering efforts. The plane has not yet been located,” he said. Rescuers were trying to reach an area where locals allegedly saw a fire, although it is not yet clear what was burning, Silwal added. He said officials could only verify the information once troops arrived on the scene.
Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesman for Tara Air, said the air search may have to be stopped during the day due to the night. “Rescuers have reduced a possible location of the plane, but have found no trace of the plane,” he said.
A team of climbers is preparing to leave for rescue operations from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. (AP)
According to the flight tracking data from flightradar24.com, the 43-year-old aircraft took off from Pokhara at 04:10 GMT and transmitted its last signal at 04:22 GMT at an altitude of 12,825 feet ( 3,900 meters).
There were six foreigners on board the plane, including four Indians and two Germans, according to a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The plane was carrying 19 passengers and three crew, Bartaula said.
It has been raining in the area for the last few days, but flights have been running normally. The planes on this route fly between mountains before landing in a valley.
FILE – A small plane with 22 people on board flying a popular tourist route has disappeared into the mountains of Nepal. (Photo AP / Niranjan Shrestha, file) (AP)
It is a popular route among foreign hikers touring the mountain trails and also among Indian and Nepalese pilgrims visiting the revered Muktinath temple.
In 2016, a Tara Air Twin Otter flying the same route crashed after takeoff, killing all 23 people on board. In 2012, an Agni Air plane that also flew from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed and killed 15 people. Six people survived.
In 2014, a Nepal Airlines plane flying from Pokhara to Jumla crashed and killed all 18 on board.
In 2018, a US-Bangla passenger plane from Bangladesh crashed landing in Kathmandu, killing 49 of the 71 people on board.