Small Tara Air passenger plane carrying 22 missing in Nepal

[News_Editor]

Small Tara Air passenger plane carrying 22 missing in Nepal

2010-12-16 06:31:32 GMT+7 (ICT)

KATMANDU, NEPAL (BNO NEWS) -- A small Tara Air passenger plane carrying more than 20 people went missing after taking off from an airstrip in eastern Nepal on Wednesday, officials said.

The small Twin Otter aircraft was carrying 19 passengers and three crew members when it departed Lamidanda Airport at approximately 3.08 p.m. local time. Lamidanda Airport is a small airstrip which serves the village of Lamidanda in the Sagarmatha Zone of eastern Nepal.

Tara Air, which was operating the aircraft, said only one passenger was a foreigner, possibly a Tibetan holding a U.S. passport. The Himalayan Times, however, said that 18 of the 19 tickets issued were on a false Nepali name.

"It is learnt that of the 19 passengers, 18 were Bhutanese, who were issued tickets by a Kathmandu-based travel agent on fake Nepali names and that Bhutanese prime minister called his Nepali counterpart Madhav Nepal to ascertain the veracity of the claim," The Himalayan Times reported on its website.

Rescue workers are on standby for a rescue operation but had not yet departed as of early Thursday due to extreme weather conditions and low visibility.

On August 24, fourteen people were killed when an Agni Air twin-turboprop Dornier Do 228 crashed in eastern Nepal. It had taken off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu but was forced to return to the airport because of bad weather conditions.

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