Wreckage of plane with 22 on board found in Nepal mountains
30 May, 2022
Rescue workers in Nepal have so far recovered 14 bodies from the crash site of a small plane carrying 22 people that went down in a remote region, an airport official said on Monday (May 30).
"The search for others is continuing," said Tek Raj Sitaula, a spokesman for the Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal's capital Kathmandu.
Nepal's army earlier on Monday said it had located the crash site of the plane.
"A search team has located the wreckage of the plane and shared a picture. Additional teams are heading there so we can get details," said Nepal Army spokesman Narayan Silwal. An image he shared on Twitter showed debris from the wreckage of the flight strewn across a mountainside. Its registration number 9N-AET was clearly visible on what appeared to be a piece of a wing.
The search operation had only resumed earlier in the day after rescuers paused after dark on Sunday.
Four Indians, two Germans and 16 Nepalis were on board the plane, a De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter operated by privately owned Tara Air, according to the airline and government officials.
Before the wreckage was found, Pokhara Airport spokesman Dev Raj Subedi told AFP early Monday morning that rescue helicopters and army troops on the ground had shifted their search to a suspected crash site.
"The search operation has resumed... There has not been any significant improvement in the weather. Two helicopters have flown toward the area but they have not been able to land yet," he said.
Subedi said that they had followed GPS, mobile and satellite signals to the location.
The aircraft was on a 20-minute flight before losing contact with the control tower.
It had taken off from the tourist town of Pokhara, 125km west of the capital, Kathmandu, and was bound for Jomsom, about 80km northwest of Pokhara, a popular tourist and pilgrimage site.
Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 said the aircraft, with registration number 9N-AET, made its first flight in April 1979.
Deo Chandra Lal Karna, a spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said five helicopters were ready to help with the rescue process.
Flight operator Tara Air is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines, a privately owned domestic carrier that services many remote destinations across Nepal.
It suffered its last fatal accident in 2016 on the same route when a plane with 23 on board crashed into a mountainside in Myagdi district.
Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, has a record of air accidents. Its weather can change suddenly and airstrips are typically located in mountainous areas that are hard to reach.
In early 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu crashed on landing and caught fire, killing 51 of the 71 people on board.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com