A private airline’s aircraft in Nepal carrying 22 people, including 4 Indians and 2 foreign nationals, went missing amid bad weather on May 29.
On May 29, Reuters reported information from the Nepalese government stating that the aircraft encountered trouble while flying from the tourist town of Pokhara, located 200 km northwest of the capital Kathmandu, to Jomsom, which is 80 km away. Jomsom is a well-known trekking destination in the Himalayas.
Currently, there are concerns that the aircraft may have crashed in the Titi area of Mustang district, home to the famous Muktinath temple. Police officer Ram Kumar Dani told ANI that some locals reported hearing “an unusual sound, as if there was a collision” in the area. Mustang is one of the most remote regions in Nepal and has an extremely sparse population.
A Tara Air aircraft in Nepal – (Photo: REUTERS)
The Twin Otter aircraft from Tara Air lost contact with air traffic control after taking off from Pokhara at 9:55 AM local time on May 29.
“A domestic flight from Pokhara to Jomsom has lost contact,” confirmed Tara Air spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula to AFP.
According to AFP, there were 19 passengers and crew members on board. So far, it has been confirmed that the passengers include 4 Indians and 2 other foreign nationals, while the nationalities of the remaining passengers are still unclear.
Phanindra Mani Pokharel, spokesperson for Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs, stated that 2 helicopters have been deployed to search for the missing aircraft. However, visibility in the area is very limited.
“Bad weather may affect search operations. Visibility is very poor, and nothing can be seen,” the spokesperson said. There is currently no information regarding the cause of the incident.
The world’s highest mountain, Everest, is located in Nepal, and the aviation industry there has been booming in recent years due to the influx of tourists.
However, there have been numerous aviation accidents in the region due to unpredictable weather and runways situated in treacherous mountainous areas. The European Union (EU) has also banned all Nepalese airlines from flying in its airspace due to safety concerns.
In 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines aircraft crashed near the international airport in Kathmandu, resulting in 51 fatalities. More recently, in 2019, Nepal’s tourism minister Rabindra Adhikari was killed when the helicopter carrying him and several others crashed in the eastern part of the country.
