A passenger plane with 22 passengers on board went missing in Nepal, weekend as poor weather hampered a search operation, the airline and its officials said.
The Twin Otter Aircraft operated by Tara Air took off from the western town of Pokhara for Jomsom at 9:55a.m., but air traffic control lost contact after 15 minutes after take-off.
Spokesman for Tara Air, Sudarshan Bartaula, told AFP that: “We are trying to locate the possible area where the aircraft might be. Search and rescue teams from the police and army are heading towards the direction of the crash.”
He said there were 19 passengers on board and three crew members. The passengers included two Germans and four Indians, with the remainder Nepali.
Jomsom, a popular trekking destination in the Himalayas, takes about 20 minutes by plane from Pokhara, which lies 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu.
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Spokesman at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Phanindra Mani Pokharel, said two helicopters had been deployed for search operations, noting that visibility was low.
“The bad weather is likely to hamper the search operation. The visibility is so poor that nothing can be seen,” Pokharel said.
Nepal’s aviation industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between difficult terrains, foreign trekkers and climbers. The industry has poor safety records due to insufficient training and maintenance.
The European Union (EU) had banned all Nepali airlines from its airspace over safety concerns, as the Himalayan country has been known for some of the world’s most remote and tricky runways, surrounded by snowcapped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge for even accomplished pilots
The weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions.
In March 2018, a United States-Bangla Airlines plane crashed near Kathmandu’s notoriously difficult-to approach international airport, killing 51 people.
The flight from the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka crash-landed and skidded into a football field where it burst into flames, as 20 passengers miraculously escaped the burning wreckage, but sustained various degrees of injuries.
An investigation found that the captain suffered an emotional breakdown during the flight, distracting the freshly qualified co-pilot who was at the controls when it crashed.
The report said air traffic control also confused the two ends of the runway, but concluded this had no impact on the flight.
In 2019 three people died when a plane veered off the runway and hit two helicopters while taking off near Mount Everest.
The accident happened at Lukla airport, which is the main gateway to the Everest region and is reputed to be one of the most difficult in the world for landing and take-off.
Also in 2019, Nepal’s Minister of Tourism, Rabindra Adhikari, was among seven people killed, when a chopper crashed in the country’s hilly east. This month Nepal’s second international airport opened at Bhairahawa, aiming to give Buddhist pilgrims from across Asia access to the Buddha’s birthplace in nearby Lumbini.
The $76 million project will ease pressure on the overburdened Kathmandu International Airport.
