POKHARA, Nepal: Nepali rescuers pulled 14 bodies on Monday from the mangled wreckage of a passenger plane strewn across a mountainside that went missing in the Himalayas with 22 people on board.
Air traffic control lost contact with the Twin Otter aircraft operated by Nepali carrier Tara Air shortly after taking off from Pokhara in western Nepal on Sunday morning headed for Jomsom, a popular trekking destination.
Helicopters operated by the military and private firms scoured the remote mountainous area all day Sunday, aided by teams on foot, but called off the search when night fell, as bad weather hampered the recovery operation at around 3,800-4,000 meters (12,500-13,000 feet) above sea level.
After the search resumed on Monday, the army shared on social media a photo of aircraft parts and other debris littering a sheer mountainside including a wing with the registration number 9N-AET clearly visible.
Four Indians were on board as well as two Germans, with the remainder Nepalis. There was no word on the cause of the crash.
The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the plane “met an accident” at 14,500 feet (4,420 meters) in the Sanosware area of Thasang rural municipality in Mustang district.
“Fourteen bodies have been recovered so far, search continues for the remaining. The weather is very bad but we were able to take a team to the crash site. No other flight has been possible,” authority spokesman Deo Chandra Lal Karn told AFP.
Pokhara Airport spokesman Dev Raj Subedi told AFP the rescuers had followed GPS, mobile and satellite signals to narrow down the location.
Pradeep Gauchan, a local official, said that the wreckage was at a height of around 3,800-4,000 meters (12,500-13,000 feet) above sea level.
“It is very difficult to reach there by foot. One team has been dropped close to the area by a helicopter but it is cloudy right now so flights have not been possible,” Gauchan told AFP earlier in the day.
“Helicopters are on standby waiting for the clouds to clear,” he said.
According to the Aviation Safety Network website, the aircraft was made by Canada’s de Havilland and made its first flight more than 40 years ago in 1979.
Tara Air is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines, a privately owned domestic carrier that services many remote destinations across Nepal.
It suffered its last fatal accident in 2016 on the same route when a plane with 23 on board crashed into a mountainside in Myagdi district.
Nepal’s air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.
But it has long been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance.
The European Union has banned all Nepali airlines from its airspace over safety concerns.
The Himalayan country also has some of the world’s most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.
The weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions.
In March 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines plane crash-landed near Katmandu’s notoriously difficult international airport, skidded into a football field and burst into flames.
Fifty-one people died and 20 miraculously escaped the burning wreckage but sustained serious injuries.
That accident was Nepal’s deadliest since 1992, when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane died when it crashed on approach to Katmandu airport.
Just two months earlier a Thai Airways aircraft had crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people.
Bodies pulled from wreckage of missing Nepal plane carrying 22 passengers
https://arab.news/zs35e
Bodies pulled from wreckage of missing Nepal plane carrying 22 passengers
- The plane lost contact with air traffic control soon after the take-off on Sunday
- Nepal’s air industry has recently boomed, though it has been plagued by poor safety
US airlines and airports brace for a brutal travel day amid massive winter storm
- More than 14,000 flights have been canceled across the US since Saturday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware
LAS VEGAS: A massive winter storm set the stage for a brutal travel day Sunday, with airlines warning of widespread cancelations and delays at some of the nation’s busiest airports.
Widespread snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened nearly 180 million people — more than half the US population — in a path stretching from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England, the National Weather Service said Saturday night. After sweeping through the South, forecasters said the storm was expected to move into the Northeast, dumping about 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters) of snow from Washington through New York and Boston.
More than 14,000 flights have been canceled across the US since Saturday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Nearly 10,000 of those were scheduled for Sunday.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport warned travelers on its website of widespread flight cancelations. Nearly all of its departing flights scheduled for the day — 420 flights, or 99 percent — have been canceled.
Significant disruptions have hit major airport hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Atlanta, home to the nation’s busiest airport, as well as New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.
American Airlines had canceled over 1,400 flights for Sunday, about 45 percent of its scheduled flights for Sunday, according to FlightAware. Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines each reported over 1,200 cancelations for the day, while United Airlines had more than 860. JetBlue had more than 570 canceled flights, accounting for roughly 71 percent of its schedule for the day.
My flight was canceled, now what?
If you’re already at the airport, get in line to speak to a customer service representative. If you’re still at home or at your hotel, call or go online to connect to your airline’s reservations staff. Either way, it helps to also research alternate flights while you wait to talk to an agent.
Most airlines will rebook you on a later flight for no additional charge, but it depends on the availability of open seats.
Can I get booked on another airline?
You can, but airlines aren’t required to put you on another carrier’s flight. Some airlines, including most of the biggest carriers, say they can put you on a partner airline, but even then, it can be a hit or miss.
Am I owed a refund?
If your flight was canceled and you no longer want to take the trip, or you’ve found another way to get to your destination, the airline is legally required to refund your money — even if you bought a non-refundable ticket. It doesn’t matter why the flight was canceled.
The airline might offer you a travel credit, but you are entitled to a full refund. You are also entitled to a refund of any bag fees, seat upgrades or other extras that you didn’t get to use.
