The Tara Air Twin Otter plane that went out of contact around 10 am Sunday while flying to Jomsom from Pokhara, has not been found till 6 pm.
Netra Prasad Sharma, the chief district officer of Mustang, said search is on for the missing aircraft.
Two helicopters and Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force ground troops are continuing the search, added Sharma.
“Search by helicopter and on ground is on at the potential site where the plane went out of contact. The search will continue until it gets dark,” he told Setopati. “It will not be possible to search at night. If the plane is still not found before it gets dark, then search will resume from tomorrow morning.”
Two helicopters – one each of Fishtail Air and Nepal Army – and about 100 security personnel have been deployed since Sunday afternoon to look for the missing plane.
According to Sharma, search and rescue efforts have been concentrated on the Dhaulagiri mountain range. The helicopters have not been able to fly constantly due to bad weather. Meanwhile, Nepal Army and Nepal Police ground troops have left for the location.
“We cannot say for certain where the plane is,” said Sharma. “We are just conducting search at the potential location.”
The plane flown by Captain Prabhakar Ghimire was carrying 22 persons including three crew members and 19 passengers. The passengers included 13 Nepalis, four Indians and two from other countries.
It was flying at an altitude of 12,825 feet when it lost contact at 10:07 in the morning, according to Flightradar data.
