Himalayan Mystery: A Twin Otter Vanishes Amid Cloudy Skies
On a cloudy Sunday afternoon, a tiny passenger plane with 22 souls on board slipped into the misty night over the rugged Nepali mountains. A search mission paused at dusk, leaving the fate of the aircraft and its passengers stuck in a suspenseful cliffhanger.
The Incident
- Plane type: De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, flown by private operator Tara Air.
- Route: Departed Pokhara, aimed for Jomsom – a 20‑minute hop over the Himalayas.
- Contact lost: Five minutes before touchdown, the cockpit radio went silent.
- People aboard: 22 passengers and crew, all still unaccounted for.
- Why the search slowed: Heavy cloud cover and jagged terrain made visibility cruelly poor.
Search Efforts Collide With Night
Police spokesperson Bishnu Kumar K.C. told Reuters, “We paused the operation for the day because of darkness. No progress was made, but we’ll pick up early tomorrow.”
State‑owned Nepal Television reported locals spotted a blazing wreck near the Lyanku Khola River, close to the towering Manapathi mountain, borderline Tibet. “The ground teams are moving toward that direction,” said Tara Air’s Sudarshan Gartaula, hinting the blaze could be natural or accidental.
Next Steps
- Search resumes at dawn, eyes on the river valley and the Himalayan foothills.
- Local villagers and cowherds will keep a lookout for any signs or clues.
- Authorities hope the new day brings clearer skies to track the missing Twin Otter.
Until big news updates, the twenty‑two people aboard are missing, and the aircraft remains an etching in the cloudy night of the Himalayas.
<img alt="" data-caption="A handout photo. Handout image shows a Tara Air DHC-6 Twin Otter, tail number 9N-AET, in Simikot, Nepal, on Dec 1, 2021. Picture taken on Dec 1, 2021.
PHOTO: Reuters” data-entity-type=”file” data-entity-uuid=”d42a134c-d3b8-4f9e-bb06-026eec36504d” src=”/sites/default/files/inline-images/30052022_plane_reuters.jpg”/>
Lost Over the Himalayas: A Tragic Flight Disconnects in Nepal
Shortly after take‑off, a nondescript lightbulb flickered and the aircraft vanished from radar screens above the Pakara mountain range. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) ran a swift search, with a dispatch team heading straight to the mysterious zone, hoping to locate what was essentially a ghost plane.
Who Was on Board?
- 4 passengers from India
- 2 Germans, blissfully carefree in their belly upgrade
- 16 Nepalese locals ready for a scenic teleport to Kathmandu
- 3 crew members who were the actual “coders” that kept the plane moving.
The aircraft bore the flight number 9N‑AET and had a history that stretched back to the golden era of April 1979. However, that’s a long time ago. Today, the modern world is haunted by sudden weather drama.
Cloudy Clues
Thunderclouds had hugged the Pokhara‑Jomson corridor since dawn, and the Nigerian weather office cited thick cloud cover as the primary cause for the missing piece of aviation puzzle. Nepal is notorious for its rapid weather flips, so if you’re planning a flight, you might as well bring a sweater besides the usual pigeon‑carting fear.
How the Landscape Sparks Tragedy
Mountains that howl with the wind, and airstrips positioned on slopes that invite a tango with the sky, make Nepal a double‑life stake in the sky game. The jungle of peaks presents a unique challenge: a plane that gets the wrong turn, and it’s not just about the miles flown but the impossible terrain that insists it’s gone.
More Than a Few Bad Days
- Early 2018: A US‑Bangla Airlines jet from Dhaka to Kathmandu clipped the runway, ignited a fiery blaze, and 51 of the 71 on board fell into the jaws of death.
- 1992: A Pakistan International Airlines plane descended into a hill, not the intended drop‑off, wiping out all 167 souls on board.
With such a chilling record, the incident has been marked as a reminder that every flight in Nepal is a test of clouds, mountains, and human resilience. Scientists and pilots alike are repeatedly pleading: “Keep flying, but you might as well bring a Swiss Army knife for survival in the skies.”
