Plane with 22 passengers goes missing in Nepal
TSB NEWS reports that a passenger plane with 22 people on board went missing in Nepal on Sunday, the operating airline and officials said, as poor weather hampered a search operation.
Nepal’s air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers. But it has a poor safety record.
The Twin Otter aircraft operated by Tara Air took off from the western town of Pokhara bound for Jomsom at 9:55 am (0410 GMT) but air traffic control lost contact after 15 minutes.
“We are trying to locate the possible area where the aircraft might be,” Sudarshan Bartaula, spokesman for Tara Air, told AFP.
“Search and rescue teams from both the police and the army are heading towards that direction.”
He said there were 19 passengers on board and three crew members. The passengers included two Germans and four Indians, with the remainder Nepali.