Nepal: Tara Air’s 9 NAET plane carrying 19 passengers feared crashed after losing contact

New Delhi, May 29: A Tara Air's 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft carrying 22 passengers including four Indians flying from Pokhara to Jomsom in Nepal, lost its contact with the airport authorities on Sunday morning, news agency ANI reported.

The twin-engine aircraft, which was on a 15-minute scheduled flight to the mountain town of Jomsom, lost contact with the airport tower shortly after takeoff.

Police official Ramesh Thapa said there was no information on the Twin Otter aircraft and a search was underway. It has been raining in the area for the past few days but flights have been operating normally, as per PTI.

According to an air traffic controller at Jomsom Airport, they have an unconfirmed report about a loud noise reported in the Ghasa region of Jomsom, according to the Post report.

Planes on that route fly between mountains before landing in a valley. It is a popular route with foreign hikers who trek on the mountain trails and also with Indian and Nepalese pilgrims who visit the revered Muktinath temple.

"The aircraft was seen over the sky of Jomsom in Mustang district and then had diverted to Mt Dhaulagiri after which it hadn't come into contact," ANI quoted Chief District Officer Netra Prasad Sharma as saying.

"We are deploying helicopter to the area for search operation," Ram Kumar Dani, DSP of District Police Office, Mustang, told ANI.

"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," Phadindra Mani Pokharel, spokesperson at Home Ministry to ANI.