Plane carrying 22 people goes missing in Nepal

The DHC-6 Twin Otter of Tara Air departed at 9:55 a.m. (11:10 a.m. Hanoi time) on May 29 from Pokhara city to Jomsom, about 80 kilometers northwest. Air traffic control lost contact shortly after take-off.

Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesman for Tara Air, said the DHC-6 was carrying 22 people, including 19 passengers and three crew members. Nepalese officials said there were 6 foreigners on the plane, including 4 citizens India and two people of unknown nationality.

Interior Ministry spokesman Phanindra Mani Pokharel said two helicopters were deployed to search for the missing plane. “Bad weather can hinder search operations. Visibility is so low that you can’t see anything,” Mr. Pokharel said.

Nepal, a country with most of its territory located in the Himalayas, has recorded many plane crashes due to changing weather and many airports located in difficult locations for takeoff and landing.

The most serious recent air crash in Nepal took place in March 2018, when a Bombardier Q400 of US-Bangla Airlines crashed while landing at Tribhuvan airport, Kathmandu, killing 51 people and injuring 20 others. love.

Pokhara, about 200 km west of Kathmandu, is the second most populous city in Nepal. Jomsom is one of the famous climbing places in the Himalayas, it takes about 20 minutes to reach here from Pokhara by plane.

The DHC-6 Twin Otter is an aircraft that can take off and land on short runways, developed and built by de Havilland Canada in 1965-1988. The DHC-6 Series 400 variant, built by Viking Air since 2008, can carry 19 passengers, reaches a maximum speed of 314 km/h with a flight range of nearly 1,500 km.

Nguyen Tien (Follow AFP)