The Nepal Army has stopped search for the Tara Air Twin Otter plane that went out of contact around 10 am Sunday while flying to Jomsom from Pokhara.
NA Spokesperson Brigadier General Narayan Silwal said search has been stopped due to darkness and will resume Monday morning. “The search team will look for an appropriate place and stay there overnight,” Silwal added.
The NA had sent a team of 65 personnel on foot while choppers were also sent from Kathmandu. But aerial search was affected due to bad weather conditions.
Two helicopters and Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force ground troops continued the search earlier on the day, according to Chief District Officer (CDO) of Mustang Netra Prasad Sharma.
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.
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.
