Tara Air plane crash: Nepal Army physically locates wreckage

By Team Newsable | First Published May 30, 2022, 9:27 AM IST

The reason behind the crash of the turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET aircraft remains shrouded in mystery.

The wreckage of the Tara Air aircraft, which crashed on Sunday 15 minutes after takeoff, has been physically located by the Nepalese Army. Army Spokesperson Brigadier General Narayan Silwal said that the remains of the aircraft had been located in the Mustang district.

There were four Indians on board the turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane. The ill-fated aircraft also had 13 Nepalese nationals, two Germans and a three-member Nepalese crew on board.

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Brig Gen Silwal said that the exact crash spit was Sanosware in the Thasang-2 region of the Mustang district. He also posted a photograph of the wreckage of the turboprop aircraft. Brig Gen Silwal, however, did not give details about the fate of the 22 passengers on board.

The reason for the crash remains shrouded in mystery. Some believe that inclement weather may have caused the crash. There are also those who have questioned the flight records of Tara Air, which has often found itself listed as among the world's most dangerous airlines despite operating within Nepal.

The aircraft had taken off from the tourist city of Pokhara. It was headed for Jomsom, a popular tourist town in central Nepal, Flights between the two cities are usually 20-25 minutes long.

Search and Rescue operations were launched immediately after the Canadian-built plane went off the radar. However, bad weather conditions made it difficult to locate in the mountainous region of the Himalayan nation by air. Security forces and groups of locals continued the on-foot search despite adverse weather conditions and eventually spotted the wreckage.

The airline manifest identified the Indians as Ashok Kumar Tripathy, his wife Vaibhavi Bandekar (Tripathy) and their children Dhanush and Ritika. The family was residing in Thane near Mumbai.

Record of air accidents

Nepal, which has eight of the world's 14 highest mountain ranges, has a chequered history when it comes to air safety.

In May 2012, another aircraft flying from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed near Jomsom airport, killing 15 people.

To recall, all 23 passengers of yet another aircraft of Tara Air had perished in a crash in 2016. Ironically, the crash happened on the same route as Sunday.

Two years later, in March 2018, a US-Bangla Air aircraft crashed at the Tribhuvan International Airport, killing 51 people on board.

In September 2012, a Sita Air aircraft crashed while making an emergency landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport. Nineteen people on board lost their lives in the crash.

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