Despite search and rescue operations being hampered by inclement weather in Nepal, an army helicopter has managed to locate the site where the Tara Air plane possibly crashed on Sunday. The aircraft was located by tracking the pilot’s mobile phone via GPS network, officials said.
The aircraft went missing earlier in the day with 22 people on board, including four Indians. The plane had taken off from Pokhara and was to land at Jomsom, when it lost contact with the air traffic control tower five minutes before its scheduled landing.
The army helicopter carrying 10 soldiers and two employees of the civil aviation authority landed on the bank of a river near Narshang Monastery, the possible site of the plane crash, as per reports. “A Nepal Army helicopter has landed on the river bank near Narshang Gumba,” said Prem Nath Thakur, general manager of the Tribhuvan International Airport.
Officials said the plane was located after Nepal Telecom tracked down the mobile phone of pilot Captain Prabhakar Ghimire. Thakur said Captain Ghimire’s phone had been ringing and the helicopter landed in the possible accident site after tracking it. “We have also sent Nepal Army and Nepal Police personnel on foot for the search,” he added.
(With PTI inputs)
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