KATHMANDU, May 29: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has said that a Nepal Army (NA) helicopter that flew in search of the missing Tara Airline aircraft has landed near a possible accident site.

It is said that the army chopper landed in the area for the first time despite the inclement weather. The search for the twin otter with the call sign 9N-AET is being carried out by the NA helicopter.

Prem Nath Thakur, general manager of the Tribhuvan International Airport, said that a Nepal Army helicopter with 10 soldiers and two employees of the authority landed on the bank of a river near the Narshang Monastery. “A NA helicopter has recently landed on the river bank near Narshang Gumba," he told Republica. “Helicopters sent earlier could not land in the area due to bad weather.”

According to him, the cell phone of Captain Prabhakar Ghimire of the missing aircraft has been ringing and NA’s helicopter has landed in the possible accident area after tracking the captain’s phone from Nepal Telecom. "We have also sent NA and Nepal Police personnel on foot for the search," Thakur said.

The Tara Air aircraft that left Pokhara Airport this morning carrying 19 passengers and three crew members has gone out of contact since this morning. There were two foreign nationals and 17 domestic passengers onboard the aircraft. Three crew members were also on board.

 
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