Missing Nepal plane found in Mustang: Identity of passengers, crew onboard
The plane, carrying 22 passengers, took off at 10.15 am from Pokhara, and lost contact with the control tower 15 minutes later
Tara Air's 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft, which went missing in the mountainous district of Mustang on Sunday morning, was found at Kowang village of the district.
According to the information given by the locals to the Nepal Army, the Tara Air plane crashed at the mouth of the Lamche river under the landslide of Manapathi Himal.
The aircraft, carrying 22 passengers, took off at 10.15 am from Pokhara, and lost contact with the control tower 15 minutes later.
Among the passengers were four Indians from Mumbai – Ashok Kumar Tripathi, Dhanush Tripathi, Ritika Tripathi and Vaibhawi Tripathi. They were members of the same family.
In addition, there were two Germans, three Japanese nationals and 13 Nepali passengers besides a three-member Nepali crew.
List of passengers and crew members onboard:
Indian passengers: Ashok Kumar Tripathi, Dhanush Tripathi, Ritika Tripathi and Vaibhawi Tripathi
Other passengers: Indra Bahadur Gole, Purushottam Gole, Rajan Kumar Gole, Mick Grat, Basant Lama, Ganesh Narayan Shrestha, Raveena Shrestha, Rasmi Shrestha, Rozina Shrestha, Prakash Sunuwar, Makar Bahadur Tamang, Rammaya Tamang, Sukumaya Tamang, Tulsadevi Tamang and Yuvi Wilner.
Crew members: Captain Prabhakar Ghimire, co-pilot Utsav Pokharel and air hostess Kismi Thapa.
The airplane was located after Nepal Telecom tracked down the cellphone of the airplane’s pilot Captain Prabhakar Ghimire through the Global Positioning System (GPS) network.
Chief District Officer of Myagdi Chiranjibi Rana told The Kathmandu Post newspaper that bad weather has hampered the search efforts at the site where the plane was last spotted by the locals.
According to him, locals reported that the plane made two circles at Khaibang and headed to Kiti Danda near Lete Pass (2,500m).
"A team of police has been mobilised at the site. The site is a 12-hour walk from Lete," he said. “There are no human settlements in the area where locals last spotted the plane."
“As soon as the weather improves, the helicopter will begin aerial operations," said Rana.
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