A Nepali military official confirmed that wreckage from the plane that went missing on Sunday in the Nepali mountains has been found, noting that there is currently no information regarding potential survivors among the passengers. The army posted an aerial image of the crash site on Twitter, showing parts of the aircraft scattered across the mountainside. No details about any survivors have been reported.
The plane, operated by Tara Air, was carrying 22 passengers, including some foreigners from Germany and India. It had taken off from the coastal resort of Pokhara, around 200 kilometers west of the capital Kathmandu, for a scheduled 20-minute flight to the mountainous town of Jomsom. The turboprop Twin Otter lost contact with the airport control tower shortly before landing in an area characterized by deep valleys and high peaks.
Bad weather and darkness hampered search efforts last night, but a military helicopter and a private plane resumed operations early this Monday morning and located the wreck of the ill-fated aircraft. Narayan Silwal, the army spokesperson, tweeted that army forces and rescue teams were heading towards the suspected crash site, believed to be near the village of Lete in the Mustang region.
The flight path taken by the missing plane is very popular among foreign trekkers and Indian and Nepali pilgrims visiting the Muktinath temple. In 2016, a Tara Air Twin Otter crashed on the same route shortly after takeoff, killing all 23 occupants. In 2012, an Agni Air aircraft en route from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed, resulting in 15 deaths and six survivors. In 2014, a Nepal Airlines flight going from Pokhara to Jumla crashed, killing all 18 people on board.
