A Tara Air Twin Otter jet carrying 22 people from Pokhara to Jomsom, comprising four Indian citizens, two Germans, and 13 Nepali passengers, as well as a three member Nepali crew, lost communication with airport authorities early Sunday morning, according to news agency ANI. According to a statement released by Nepal’s civil aviation authority, the aeroplane with call-sign 9 NAET took off from Pokhara at 9:55 a.m. & lost contact at 10:07 a.m. in the Ghodepani area.
The current Status
According to a Jomsom Airport air traffic controller, authorities get an unconfirmed report of a loud noise in Ghasa, Jomsom. “Locals in Titi have contacted to say that they heard a strange sound, as if there had been a bang. We’re sending a chopper to the area to help with the search “According to Ram Kumar Dani, DSP from Mustang’s district police office.
“The Nepalese government has sent in private chopper from Mustang & Pokhara to look for the missing plane.” “The Nepal Military chopper is being prepared to be sent for the search operation,” said Phadindra Mani Pokharel, a spokeswoman for the home ministry, according to ANI.
According to Nepali Army spokesperson Narayan Silwal, a Mi-17 helicopter is recently left towards Lete, Mustang, the likely crash site of missing Tara Air plane. The Indian embassy, Nepal stated it was in contact with the Indian passengers’ relatives.
Mustang—the fertile plain
Mustang is one of the Himalayan nation’s hilly and fifth-largeat districts, and it is home to the Muktinath Temple pilgrimage. The district, often called the “Land Beyond the Himalayas,” is located in Western Nepal’s Himalayan region, in the Kali Gandaki valley.
The historic territory of Mustang (meaning “fertile plain”) is primarily dry and parched. This area contains the world’s deepest valley, which stretches three miles vertically between the Dhaulagiri and Annapurna ranges.
The Safety records of Nepal’s aviation
Due to a lack of training and upkeep, the impoverished Mountainous nation has a dismal air safety record. According to the AFP news agency, the European Union had barred the Nepali airlines from flying in its airspace due to safety concerns.
The country also contains many of the world’s most isolated and difficult runways, which are flanked by snow-capped hills and have approaches that even experienced pilots find difficult.
Tara Air’s Twin Otter aircraft crashed in hilly western Nepal in February 2016, killed the 23 people on board. Shortly after taking off, the plane lost communication with control tower on its way from Pokhara to Jomsom. The majority of the passengers were Nepalese.
A US-Bangla Airlines flight crash landed Kathmandu’s international airport in March 2018, killing 51 passangers. Three others died the next year when a jet skidded off from the runway and collided with two helicopters as it took off close Mount Everest.
Read More – Nepal: Plane with 22 on board, including 4 Indians, goes missing
