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 city of Pokhara, about 200 km northwest of the capital Kathmandu to Jomsom, which is about 80 km north. west.
He lost contact with airport authorities shortly after take-off on Sunday morning at 9:55 a.m., ANI news agency reported.
“The plane was seen in the sky of Jomsom in Mustang district and then diverted to Mount Dhaulagiri, after which it had not been contacted,” said district chief Netra Prasad. Sharma, quoted by ANI.
The 22 people on board the missing Tara Air Twin Otter flight, whose queue number was 9N-AET, included six foreigners, including four Indians and two Germans, according to the Associated Press, citing a police officer who called anonymity and it was not. authorized to speak to the media.
It was reported that there were also three Japanese nationals on board the plane.
The brochure image shows a Tara Air DHC-6 Twin Otter, tail number 9N-AET, in Simikot, Nepal, December 1, 2021
(Madhu Thapa / Handout via Reuters)
The planes on this route fly between mountains before landing in a valley. It has been raining in the region for the last few days.
Nepal is home to the highest mountains in the world and the flight route is popular with foreign hikers on mountain trails.
Relatives of passengers aboard Tara Air-operated Twin Otter plane mourn in front of Pokhara airport on May 29
(AFP via Getty Images / Yunish Gurung)
Police officer Ramesh Thapa said there was currently no information on the plane and that a search was being carried out, the Associated Press reported.
Officials have deployed two private Mustang and Pokhara helicopters 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.
Relatives and relatives of passengers aboard Tara Air-operated Twin Otter fly out of Pokhara airport
(AFP via Getty Images / Yunish Gurung)
Local news said the plane was suspected of crashing into the “Titi” area of Lete, in the mountainous Mustang district, where the pilgrimage site of Muktinath Temple is located.
“Titi’s locals called us and informed us that they heard an unusual sound as if there was some stock. We are deploying a helicopter to the area for the search operation, “Ram Kumar Dani, a senior police officer in the region, told ANI.
A Tara Airlines Twin Otter plane flying the same route had crashed in 2016 and killed all 23 on board. The wreckage of the plane was found in a jungle.
Two years later there was another plane crash, in which a Bangladesh passenger plane crashed in Kathmandu in 2018, killing 49 of the 71 on board.
Investigators believed the crash was caused by the pilot’s “emotional breakdown” from work-related stress, according to a draft report.