Nepal plane goes missing with 22 on board, teams head to fire site By Reuters

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) -A small passenger airplane operated by a non-public airline went lacking in mountainous Nepal on Sunday with 22 folks on board throughout cloudy climate, and officers stated search groups had been despatched to the positioning of a fireplace noticed by native residents.

State-owned Nepal Tv stated villagers had seen an plane on hearth on the supply of the Lyanku Khola River on the foot of the Himalayan mountain Manapathi, in a district bordering Tibet.

The airplane, a De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, took off within the morning for a 20-minute flight however misplaced contact with the management tower 5 minutes earlier than it was resulting from land, authorities officers stated. It was operated by Tara Air.

“Floor search groups are continuing towards that route,” Tara Air spokesperson Sudarshan Gartaula advised Reuters, referring to the fireplace web site. “It might be a fireplace by villagers or by cowherds. It might be something.”

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) additionally stated a staff was headed to that space.

“The situation of the plane stays unknown to this point due to dangerous climate and sophisticated terrain,” it stated in a press release. “The bottom and air seek for the plane can be intensified and the rescue coordination centre will stay open for twenty-four hours.”

The airline stated the airplane was carrying 4 Indians, two Germans and 16 Nepalis, together with three crew.

The airplane flew from the vacationer city of Pokhara, some 125 km (80 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu. It was headed for Jomsom, which is about 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Pokhara and is a well-liked vacationer and pilgrimage web site.

Flight-tracking web site Flightradar24 stated the lacking plane, with registration quantity 9N-AET, made its first flight in April 1979.

The climate workplace stated there had been thick cloud cowl within the Pokhara-Jomson space for the reason that morning.

Nepal, residence to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, together with Everest, has a document of air accidents. Its climate can change immediately and airstrips are usually positioned in mountainous areas which might be exhausting to achieve.

In early 2018, a US-Bangla Airways flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu crashed on touchdown and caught hearth, killing 51 of the 71 folks on board.

In 1992, all 167 folks aboard a Pakistan Worldwide Airways airplane had been killed when it ploughed right into a hill because it tried to land in Kathmandu.