KATHMANDU: Mortal remains of 10 persons who died in Tara Air plane crash in Thasang Rural Municipality-2 in Mustang district have been brought to Kathmandu this evening.
Spokesperson of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Teknath Sitaula said 21 dead bodies were recovered from the site and 10 of them were brought to Kathmandu in the first phase.
The dead bodies were brought by a MI 17 helicopter of Nepal Army and have been sent to the hospitals for postmortem.
Identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained.
It is said 11 other dead bodies are in the crash site and would be brought to Pokhara and then to Kathmandu on Tuesday once the weather improves.
Search for a traveler’s dead body is ongoing and the rescuers and search teams are yet to recover the body due to adverse weather there, the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre at TIA said.
Meanwhile, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale, who was at the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, has expressed deep sorrow towards the humanitarian loss from the accident. Ale said he was stunned from the huge humanitarian loss caused from the crash.
Minister Ale has expressed heartfelt tributes to the departed souls and deep sympathies to the bereaved families saying that the incident caused an irreparable loss to the nation.
Probe panel formed to investigate into Tara Air plane crash
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation today formed a five-member panel to probe into the Tara Air plane crash that occurred in Mustang district on Sunday.
Issuing a press statement here today, the Ministry said Senior Aeronautical Engineer Ratish Chandra Lal Suman would lead the team. The other members in the panel include Captain Dipu Jwarchan, Senior Maintenance Engineer Upendra Lal Shrestha, Senior Meteorologist Mani Ratna Shakya and Ministry’s Joint Secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane.
The wreckage of the aircraft with the call sign 9N-AET was found this morning at an altitude of 14,500ft at the base of Manapathi peak in Mustang district.
A total of 22 persons including 19 passengers and three crew members were onboard the Twin Otter that was flying to Jomsom Airport from Pokhara.
PM Deuba expresses sorrow over casualties in Tara Air Crash
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has expressed sorrow over the demise of those killed in the Tara Air’s Twin Otter plane crash in Mustang.
PM Deuba took to Twitter today and expressed grief over the incident and loss of lives in the tragic accident. Deuba extended heartfelt tributes to the deceased and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
The plane with call sign 9N-AET-DHC-6 had gone missing yesterday as it was en route to Jomsom from Pokhara and its wreckages were found today at Sansure Cliff of Thasang rural municipality-2 in Mustang.
So far mortal remains of 13 have been recovered while the remaining nine are also feared dead. A total of 22 passengers including two Germans and three crew members were on board the plane.
CAAN preliminary conclusion says bad weather to blame for Tara Air plane crash
The Tara Air Twin-Otter plane crashed due to bad weather, a preliminary investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) shows.
CAAN director general Pradeep Adhikari informed the meeting of the International Committee of the Parliament today that the Tara Air plane met with the accident because of the inclement weather.
He said a preliminary investigation showed that the aircraft which should have made a right turn instead took a left turn due to the bad weather and crashed into a hillside.
The CAAN director general assured of finding the truth behind the incident by forming an investigation commission and conducting further investigation.
The crash site is at a distance of eight nautical miles from the Jomsom Airport. The wreckage of the airplane was found this morning at the Sanusare cliff at Thasang rural municipality-2 of Mustang district.
Twenty-two people including 19 passengers and three crew members were killed in the plane crash. The plane that had taken off from Pokhara Airport at 9.55 went out of contact at 10.7 am Sunday. It was flying towards Jomsom of Mustang.
Five helicopters were mobilized for searching for the plane the whole day on Sunday soon after it was reported missing. But bad weather hampered the search. The wreckage of the plane was found by a mechanism that had been mobilized early morning today, it is said.
