Nepal Army 'physically' locates site where Tara Air's flight with 22, including four Indians, on board crashed

The Nepal Army along with search and rescue operation troops, on Monday, physically located the site of the Nepalese private plane crash at Sanosware, Thasang-2, Mustang. Tara Air's 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft with 22 people on board, including four Indians, went missing on Sunday. After 5 hours, it was found crashed in Kowang village of the Mustang district.

"Search and rescue troops have physically located the plane crash site. Details will be followed," news agency ANI quoted Nepal Army spokesperson as saying.

The army further informed that the search operations resumed on Monday morning after it was halted on Sunday due to snowfall. Helicopters have been deployed for search and rescue operation in Mustang district. The visual shows burnt wreckage of the aircraft.

Also Read: Nepalese plane carrying 22 passengers goes missing, loses contact with airport authorities

As per reports, the Indians, who were there in the ill-fated aircraft, were from the same family and were residents of Thane in Maharashtra. They have been identified as Ashok Kumar Tripathi, his wife Vaibhavi Tripathi and their two children - Dhanush Tripathi, Ritika Tripathi. Among the other other passengers were two Germans and 13 Nepalese.

The Canadian-built plane took off for Jomsom from Pokhara at 9:55 am on Sunday (29 May, 2022) and lost contact with the control tower within 15 minutes after take off. The aircraft is said to have lost contact with the tower above Ghorepani on the Pokhara-Jomsom air route. Usually the flight between Pokhara to Jomsom, a a popular tourist town in central Nepal, takes 20-25 minutes.

"The aircraft was seen over the sky of Jomsom in Mustang and then had diverted to Mt. Dhaulagiri after which it hadn't come into contact," Chief District Officer Netra Prasad Sharma told ANI over the phone.

As per reports by local media, the missing aircraft in Nepal was tracked down using the GPS coordinates of the pilot's mobile phone. The plane was being driven by Captain Prabhakar Ghimire.

A report by Nepal's MyRepublica news portal mentioned Prem Nath Thakur, general manager of Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport, saying that the cell phone of Captain Ghimire of the missing aircraft has been ringing and Nepal Army's helicopter has landed in the possible accident area after tracking the his phone from Nepal Telecom.

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Meanwhile, police officials say that the aircraft has been suspected to have crashed in the Titi area of Lete in Mustang District. They informed that they received a call from locals in Titi who informed them that they have heard an "unusual sound as if there was some bang".

The Nepal Home Ministry has deployed two private helicopters from Mustang and Pokhara for the search for missing aircraft. Home Ministry spokesperson Phadindra Mani Pokharel informed that a Nepal Army chopper is being prepared to be deployed for the search.

Not a first plane crash in Nepal

The country is home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest. It has a record of air accidents.

In 2016, all 23 people on board were killed when a plane of the same airline flying the same route crashed after takeoff.

In March 2018, a US-Bangla Air crash occurred at the Tribhuvan International Airport, killing 51 people on board.

A Sita Air flight crashed in September 2012 while making an emergency landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport, killing 19 people.

A plane flying from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed near Jomsom airport on 14 May, 2012, killing 15 people.

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