Nepal Plane Crash: Search And Rescue Troops Physically Locate Aircraft Crash Site In Mustang
Nepal Army on Monday located the plane crash site for crashed Tara Air's 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft at Sanosware, Thasang-2, Mustang. The rescue operation was called off on Sunday due to snowfall.
New Delhi: Nepal Army on Monday informed that the search and rescue troops have physically located the plane crash site for crashed Tara Air's 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft. It was revealed to be at Sanosware, Thasang-2, Mustang. This came as search operations resumed in the morning after it was halted yesterday due to snowfall. Earlier, the Tribhuvan International Airport chief said that Tara Air's 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft which had lost contact with the authorities on Sunday morning was found in Kowang village of Mustang district.
“The search and rescue troops have physically located the plane crash site. Details will be followed,” Brigadier General Narayan Silwal said on Twitter.
Crash site: Sanosware, Thasang-2, Mustang pic.twitter.com/OcN93N1Qyb
— NASpokesperson (@NaSpokesperson) May 30, 2022
A team led by Nepal Police inspector Raj Kumar Tamang reached the crash site by air. “Some of the bodies of the passengers are beyond recognition. Police gathering the remains” the official said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
The rescue operation was called off on Sunday due to snowfall at the possible air crash site, said Premnath Thakur, General Manager, TIA. "Due to the snowfall at the possible air crash site, the search and rescue operation has been called off for today. All the helicopters deployed for search and rescue have been called back to bases," ANI quoted Thakur as saying.
With 22 passengers and a three-member crew on board, Tara Air's 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft went missing on Sunday morning in the mountainous region of Nepal soon after it took off from Pokhara, nearly 200 kilometers east of Kathmandu on Sunday at 10:15 am. Out of 22 passengers, 4 were Indians and 3 were Japanese nationals while the rest were Nepal citizens.
As per the locals, the Tara Airplane crashed at the mouth of the Lamche river under the landslide of Manapathi Himal.
"The aircraft was seen over the sky of Jomsom in Mustang district and then had diverted to Mount Dhaulagiri after which it hadn't come into contact," chief district officer Netra Prasad Sharma told ANI.
"The Nepal home ministry has deployed two private helicopters from Mustang and Pokhara for the search for the missing aircraft. The Nepal Army chopper is also being prepared to be deployed for the search operation," Phadindra Mani Pokharel, a spokesperson of the Nepalese home ministry said.
The condition of the plane belonging to Tara Air that took off at 10:15 am from Pokhara, nearly 200 kilometers east of Kathmandu, is unknown till now, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) stated.
The Canadian-built plane was flying from the city of Pokhara to Jomsom, a popular tourist town in central Nepal.
(With Agency Inputs)