Nepal plane with 22 on board suspected to have crashed
A search helicopter that flew from Pokhara to Jomsom in search of the Tara Air aircraft that went missing returned without any success due to bad weather.
Kathmandu: A Nepal plane that went missing on Sunday morning in bad weather with 22 persons on board, including four Indians, is suspected to have crashed, a news report said.
A search helicopter that flew from Pokhara to Jomsom in search of the Tara Air aircraft that went missing returned without any success due to bad weather. The plane is suspected to have crashed in the Lete area of Thasang Rural Municipality in Mustang district, My Republica reported.
Chief District Officer of Mustang, Netra Prasad Sharma said that the plane has still not come into contact.
The weather condition at Pokhara-Jomsom route is currently cloudy with rainfall, affecting the search.
According to Myagdi police, the locals have heard a sound of a blast near the hill over Lete.
However, a crash has not been confirmed yet.
According to Pokhara Airport Information Officer Dev Raj Adhikari, the twin otter with the call sign 9N AET left Pokhara Airport this morning carrying 19 passengers and three crew members.
The plane had taken off from the Pokhara Airport at 9:55 am and was scheduled to land at Jomsom by 10:13 am. The Pokhara Airport had been in contact with the plane till Ghorepani before it handed over the contact to the Jomsom Airport.
Of the total passengers inside the plane captained by Prabhakar Ghimire, four are Indian nationals, 13 are Nepalis while two are foreigners. Utsav Pokhrel is the co-pilot while Kismi Thapa is the air hostess, Adhikari said.
Jomsom Airport had informed Pokhara after the plane went out of contact. This was Tara’s third flight of the day.
According to Thasang Rural Municipality Chairman Praddep Gauchan, the sky over Lete is filled with thick fog along with rainfall, affecting visibility.
The helicopter of Fishtail Air was forced to return to Jomsom Airport due to bad weather.
Here is the list of passengers and crew members on board:
Passengers: Indra Bahadur Gole, Purushottam Gole, Rajan Kumar Gole, Mick Grat, Basant Lama, Ganesh Narayan Shrestha, Raveena Shrestha, Rasmi Shrestha, Rozina Shrestha, Prakash Sunuwar, Makar Bahadur Tamang, Rammaya Tamang, Sukumaya Tamang, Tulsadevi Tamang, Ashok Kumar Tripathi , Dhanush Tripathi, Ritika Tripathi, Yuvi Wilner and Vaibhawi Bandekar were on board.
Crew members: Capt. Prabhakar Ghimire, co-pilot Utsav Pokharel and Air Hostess Kismi Thapa.
