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Twin Otter aircraft in Simikot, Nepal (2021): A similar aircraft failed to reach the targeted Jomsom airport in northern Nepal
Photo:
MADHU THAPA / via REUTERS
In Nepal, a passenger plane with two Germans and 20 other people on board has disappeared from radar.
Tara Air announced that contact with the Twin Otter machine was lost shortly after it took off from the western city of Pokhara on Sunday morning.
The search for the machine, which was en route to the popular mountaineering destination of Jomsom, was hampered by bad weather.
According to Tara Air, the plane left for Jomsom in the morning with three crew members.
The 19 passengers were two Germans, four Indians and 13 Nepalese.
In addition, three crew members were on board.
Jomsom is a popular mountaineering destination in the Himalayas.
The place is only about 20 minutes away from Pokhara by plane.
"We are trying to locate the possible area where the plane could be," a Tara Air spokesman told AFP.
A spokesman for the Nepalese Interior Ministry said two helicopters had been dispatched to search for the plane.
However, the visibility in the area is very poor.
"The bad weather will probably hamper the search operation."
Low security standards
Aviation in Nepal has been booming for years, but safety standards are low due to inadequate staff training and poor maintenance of the machines.
The European Union has therefore banned all Nepalese airlines from its airspace.
In addition, the Himalayan state is home to some of the most remote and difficult airstrips.
In addition, the weather in Nepal's mountains can change quickly and create dangerous flying conditions.
In March 2018, a plane operated by Bangladeshi airline US-Bangla crashed near the international airport in the capital, Kathmandu.
51 people died in the process.
This month, the country's second international airport opened in Bhairahawa.
The construction, which costs the equivalent of 70 million euros, is intended to relieve the airport in Kathmandu and make it easier for Buddhist pilgrims from all over Asia to get to Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, which is not far from the new airport.
mas/AFP/dpa
