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Published Tue Feb 23, 2016
A Twin Otter carrying 23 people (18 passengers, 2 infants and 3 crew) went missing Wednesday February 24th 2016 while flying in a mountainous area in Nepal.
Tara Air Viking 9N-AHH Twin Otter was on an 18-minute flight traveling from Pokhara, 80 miles west of Kathmandu, to Jomsom, which is the starting point for trekkers going into mountainous areas, when it lost contact with the control tower, the Associated Press reported.
Flying the aircraft was Capt Roshan Manandhar, a veteran of the region who was reported to be close to retirement.
The Tara Air twin otter wreckage was found at Soli Ghoptebhir in Myagdi district. Aviation Minister Ananda Pokhrel said the plane was found crashed at a junglein jungle of Myagdi district.
Local police say there are no survivors.
The Nepali Tourism and Aviation Minister Ananda Pokharel said a few bodies have been found but are unrecognizable.
It is not clear what caused the crash but Dana VDC and adjoining areas were enshrouded in a cloud of dust on Tuesday following dry landslides in Mt Annapurna South base since Monday night. Tara Air added in a statement, “It is also known that weather at both origin and destination airports was favourable and the airport was cleared for departure by the control tower at Pokhara,”
In 2012, an Agni Air plane flying the same route from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed, killing 15 people. Six people survived. In 2014 a Nepal Airlines plane flying from Pokhara to Jumla crashed killing all 18 on board.
AirlineRatings prior to this crash scored the airline a 1/7 for safety. The safety rating remains unchanged. For more information on our safety ratings click here.
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