Tara Air with 22 persons missing

A twin-engine aircraft carrying 22 people including 3 crew members went missing in the mountainous district of Mustang on Sunday morning, officials confirmed.

The aircraft bearing call-sign 9N AET had flown from Pokhara to Jomsom at 9:55 AM and went out of contact after reaching the Lete area of Mustang.

Tara Air's 9N AET twin-engine aircraft carrying 19 passengers, flying from Pokhara to Jomsom at 9:55am, has lost contact, said the Airport authorities.

"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 confirmed.

As per the police officials, the aircraft has been suspected to have crashed in the "Titi" area of Lete in Mustang District.

"Locals from Titi have called and informed us that they have heard an unusual sound as if there was some bang. We are deploying a helicopter to the area for the search operation," Ram Kumar Dani, DSP of District Police Office, Mustang.

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

A Nepal Army helicopter is being sent to Dhaulagiri region in a bid to search for the Tara Air aircraft. According to reports coming out from the Kaski District Administration Office, a Fishtail Air helicopter was first deployed to search for the missing aircraft. However, due to weather conditions the chopper could not continue and had to return.

Following this, the Nepal Army helicopter from Kathmandu was sent in for the operation. The plane that took off from Pokhara at 9:55 am had gone out of contact a little after 10:00 am, on entering the Mustang-airspace. Captain Prabhakar Ghimire is the pilot of the the 9N-AET. Meanwhile, a technical team from the Civil Aviation Authority and Tara Air are working to locate the missing plane, as reported.

"This is a developing story and information will be updated on verification."