Nepal plane with 22 on board crashes

Nepali rescuers scoured a remote area of the lower Himalayas by helicopter and on foot Sunday after a passenger plane with 22 people on board went missing.

Nepal’s air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers. But it has a poor safety record.

The Twin Otter aircraft operated by Tara Air took off from the western town of Pokhara for Jomsom on Sunday at 9:55am (0410 GMT) but air traffic control lost contact after 15 minutes, the airline said.

There were 19 passengers on board and three crew members, airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula told AFP. The passengers included two Germans and four Indians, with the remainder Nepali.

The aircraft’s last known location was in an area around Ghorepani, a village at 2,874 metres (9,429 feet) above sea level, according to the aviation authority.

The Civil Aviation Authority said that in addition to two choppers, personnel from the army, police and the Himalayan Rescue Association had been deployed to conduct search operations on foot.

“Right now we cannot say where exactly where the aircraft is and in what condition. There has not been any reporting or information from locals about a big fire or any other such indications,” said Dev Raj Subedi, a spokesman for Pokhara Airport.