Plane with 23 people on board crashes in Nepal

The plane reportedly crashed in Nepal, killing all passengers on board.

A small plane carrying 23 people including two foreigners on board that went missing on Wednesday, February 24, has reportedly crashed in Nepal, killing all passengers on board, The Indian Express reports. 


According to a Nepal tourism minister the wreckage of missing plane was found in Nepal and all 23 people on board were killed. 

The small plane flying in poor visibility over mountainous terrain in Nepal was declared missing on Wednesday, Daily Mail reports.

Yogendra Kuwar, an airport official said the plane was on an 18-minute flight but lost contact after takeoff. He said there were no landing strips between the two airports the plane was flying between and it is believed to have crashed. 

Kuwar said helicopters were searching the route more than two hours after the plane was to have landed, but poor weather conditions are making that difficult, he said. The foreigners were from China and Kuwait while the remaining passengers were all Nepali nationals, including two children. 

The plane had taken off from Pokhara, a resort town 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Kathmandu, and was heading north to Jomsom, the starting point for trekkers going into mountainous areas. Harihari Yogi, the police chief at Jomsom, said they first had reports from local villagers of hearing a loud explosion near the small village of Rupshe and attempts were being made to reach there. 

The Twin Otter aircraft was operated by domestic Tara airlines was traveling from Pokhara to Jomsom and lost contact with the control tower shortly after taking off.

Only small planes can fly the route, which goes between mountains.

Jomson is popular for both foreign tourists visiting the Mount Annapurna and Mustang region for trekking, and for Hindu pilgrims visiting the Muktinath temple.

According to BBC, since 1949, the year the first aircraft landed in Nepal, there have been more than 70 different crashes involving planes and helicopters, in which more than 700 people have been killed. 

In 2013, the European Union banned all Nepalese airlines from flying there.