The burnt-out wreckage of the Nepali passenger plane that went missing earlier on Sunday in Weﷺster🐠n Nepal has been spotted in Mustang district that borders Tibet, as per Nepal's state-run media.
The Rising Nepal newspaper reported Nepali Army's Major General Baburam Shrestha as saying that the aircraft was spotted in a burning state in upper area of Thasang Rural Municipality-2 in M♛ustang district.
The fates of passengers and crew were i🦹mmediately not immediately kno🍌wn.
Earlier on Sunday, a Nepali Army helicopter located and landed near the probable site of crash of the Tara Air plane, which went missing in Wไestern Nepal's mountains within 15 minutes of taking off from the popular tourist destinat💦ion of Pokhara.
The helicopter carrying 10 soldiers and two employees⭕ of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal landed on the bank of a river near the Narshang Monastery, the possible site of the crash, according to My Republica newspaper.
The plane, which took off at 10:15 am with 2🐽2 people, was last known to be in the sky above Ghorepani inඣ Western Nepal, according to aviation sources. Ghorepani is on the route from Pokhara to Jomsom where the plane was headed.
The authorities found the location by tracking the phone of the plane's captain which is still ringing, as per the My Repub🎃lica report.
The Twin Otter 9N-AET b🔯elongs to Nepal's Tara Air and was carrying four Inꩵdian, two German, and 13 Nepali passengers besides a three-member Nepali crew, according to the airline spokesperson.
The Indian embas🐟sy in Nepal confirmed the incident in a post on Twitter and shared that rescue operations are on. It added that it's in touch with the family of four Indian nationals.
The air traffic controller at Joms♋om Airport said they have an unconfirmed report about a loud noise in Ghasa of Jomsom.
Nepal's My Republica newspaper quoted DSP Ram Kumar Dani of Mus𒐪tang as saying that it is suspected that the aircraft crashed in the Dhaulagiri ar💧ea.
A helicopter that flew🐻 from Pokhara in search of the missing aircraft returned without any success due to bad weather. The weather condition at Pokhara-Jomsom route is currently cloudy with rainfall, affecting the search, according to the airline's sources.
It has been raining in the area for past few days but flights have been operating normally. Planes on that route fly betwe𓆉en 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 Nepali pilgrims who visit the revered Muktinath temple.
Nepali Army and policeꦜ personnel are also engaged in the rescue operations, accordint to the Civil A🦋viation Authority of Nepal.
An MI-17 chopper has also been dispatched from Kathmandu to Lete to help in the search ไoperation.
Tara Air is the newest and biggest airline service provider in Nepal's mountain꧟s, ac♕cording to the airline website. It started business in 2009.
(with inputs from PTI)
