Plane with 23 people on board goes missing in Nepal

The aircraft of Tara Air was on a 20-minute flight from Pokhara to Jomsom, but lost contact after takeoff

A small plane with 23 people, including two foreigners, on board today went missing while flying in a mountainous area in Nepal.

The aircraft of Tara Air was on a 20-minute flight from Pokhara, a tourist hub located 200 km west of the capital Kathmandu, to Jomsom but lost contact after takeoff.

The search operation for the Twin Otter aircraft has begun, Xinhua reported.

"An army helicopter and a helicopter of Dynasty Air have already been sent for the search operation," said Bhim Raj Rai, Media Officer at Tara Airlines.

The plane lost contact a few minutes after taking off from the airport at 7.47 a.m.

 

Among the 20 passengers, two were foreigners. However, the nationalities were yet not known. Three crew members were also on the aircraft.

"Weather of both Pokhara and Jomsom is fine today (Wednesday). So we have no clue about what went wrong," Rai said.

The aircraft was added to the fleet last September.