Tara Air aircraft which took off from Pokhara for Jomsom loses contact

Kathmandu, May 29

The Tara Air aircraft which took off from Pokhara for Jomsom has lost contact. The twin otter with the call sign 9N AET that left Pokhara Airport this morning carrying 19 passengers and three crew members has lost contact.

According to Devraj Subedi, information officer at Pokhara Airport, the aircraft took off under the command of Prabhakar Ghimire. There were 2 foreign nationals and 17 domestic passengers on board. Additional three crew members were also on board.

According to him, the plane took off for Jomsom at 9:55 AM in the morning. The aircraft was scheduled to land at Jomsom Airport at 10:15 AM.

The aircraft lost contact from the sky above Ghorepani on the Pokhara-Jomsom air route. Officials at the airport said that Pokhara Tower had handed over the aircraft to Jomsom Tower but lost contact.

According to DSP Ram Kumar Dani of Mustang, it is suspected that the aircraft crashed in the Dhaulagiri area. Dani informed Republica that a helicopter had flown from Jomsom to search for the aircraft.