Search for the Tara Air aircraft that went out of contact while on flight from a Pokhara to Jomsom has been affected by the adverse weather. The Nepali Army helicopter which had flown from Pokhara for the search had to land at Kobang due to dense fog.
Another chopper of Fishtail Air is at Jomsom airport waiting for the weather to clear, administrative officer at the District administration Office Mustang, Devendra Raj Pandey, said.
The Fishtail Air helicopter also had to abort the search and returned to Jomsom earlier today due to the weather.
Pandey added that a team of Nepali Army, Nepal Police, and the Armed Police Force has left for Dhaulagiri mountain as it is suspected that the plane might have gone missing between the Dhaulagiri and the Manapathi mountains.
The plane was flying in circles at a height lower than average, says a local. Bikal Bagdas of Boksekhola, a local from Thasang rural municipality-2, said he saw the airplane flying in circles two or three times some distance above the house amidst the rain.
"We were having lunch, the plane had encircled many times. It was raining and foggy," he said, adding that he had not seen planes flying to Mustang at such a low altitude before this.
"It encircled two or three times as if it would hit the house. We, villagers, had come out of our houses and looked at it. After some time, it took height and flew away. We thought that it was going around because it had been raining," Bagdas added.
According to the Tribhuvan International Airport, the 'emergency location transmitter signal' has been found. As per the signal, it looks like the aircraft has hit some object or mountain. However, the place where the plane is suspected to have crashed is high up in the mountain far away from the human settlement, said a TIA source.
A total of 22 people: 13 Nepali, four Indian, two Germans, and three crew members are on board the plane.
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