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PoliticsNepal

Nepal: Rescue teams locate wreckage of missing plane

May 30, 2022

Rescue workers have recovered 21 bodies from the crash site of a small passenger plane that went down in a remote part of the country over the weekend.

https://p.dw.com/p/4C1OW
Family members and relatives of passengers on board the Twin Otter aircraft operated by Tara Air, weep outside the airport in Pokhara, May 29, 2022.
The fate of the people on board the plane is not clear yetImage: Yunish Gurung/AFP

Nepal's army on Monday found the wreckage of a small passenger plane that went missing on Sunday with 22 people on board.

Authorities said that 21 bodies had so far been recovered from the site and that bad weather was hampering rescue efforts.

"Twenty-one bodies have been recovered and teams are searching for the remaining one," Nepal Army spokesman Narayan Silwal told AFP.

Army spokesman Narayan Silwal posted a photo of the site — where the aircraft's tail number is clearly visible — on Twitter.

Sixteen Nepalis, four Indians and two Germans were on board the plane, according to the airline and government officials. Three among them were members of the crew.

A short flight 

The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Tara Air, lost contact with the control tower shortly after takeoff Sunday morning.

Rescue helicopters had a tough time reaching the terrains of the flight's last known location because of cloudy weather conditions.

The journey was a small one, for about 20 minutes, from Pokhara to Jomsom, a popular tourist and pilgrimage site.

The distance between the two popular tourist destinations is about 80 kilometers (50 miles).

Though the mountainous region of Jomsom received rain the last few days, all flights operated on schedule.

The aircraft, with registration number 9N-AET, had made its first flight in April 1979, according to Flightradar24 plane tracking service.

rm/jsi (Reuters, dpa)