According to the Civil Aviation Authority in Nepal, rescue personnel spent the better part of a day attempting to get to the scene of an aeroplane accident in the mountainous heights of the Himalayas. On Monday, they were successful in getting there and found 16 remains.
Pokhara, which is located in the middle of Nepal, is the city from which a De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, which was manufactured in Canada and is flown by Tara Air and which had 19 passengers and three crew members on board, took off early on Sunday morning and was en route to Jomsom, which is a popular tourist destination among trekkers.
The flight would have taken roughly 30 minutes under normal conditions, but it was forced to make an emergency landing due to terrible weather. On board were 15 people: 13 Nepalis, four Hindu pilgrims from India, and two German trekkers. The authorities said that they did not anticipate discovering any survivors.
Rain and fog made it difficult for rescue workers to go to the location of the incident. Due to the poor visibility on Sunday, helicopters that were deployed by the Nepali Army and commercial firms were rerouted to Kathmandu and Pokhara instead of their original destinations.
Following an improvement in the weather conditions early on Monday morning, a senior army officer, a police inspector, and a guide were able to fly by helicopter to the spot, which was situated at a height of 4,400 metres near the hamlet of Thasang in the district of Mustang. As of midday, the authorities reported that a total of 15 rescue workers had arrived at the scene.
A spokesperson for the Nepal Police named Bishnu Kumar K.C. said that the remains will be gathered and sent to either Pokhara or Kathmandu, the capital of the country.
Because of its stunning snow-capped mountains, Jomsom is one of the most popular trekking destinations in Nepal. Muktinath Temple is a pilgrimage destination for Hindus coming from all over the world, including Nepal, India, and other nations.
Residents and tourists of Jomsom, which is located in a remote mountainous region, depend on light aeroplanes with two engines apiece to go there. Because of the often poor weather, the rugged terrain, and the elderly jet fleets, accidents happen very frequently.
In 2016, a Tara Air jet went down while travelling the same route as the one that crashed on Sunday, resulting in the deaths of 23 passengers. In 2018, a passenger jet flying from Bangladesh to Kathmandu had an accident that resulted in the deaths of 49 of the 71 passengers on board. Because Nepali airlines have such a bad track record when it comes to safety, the European Union has banned the aircraft from flying in its territory.
