Search yields Nepal plane crash wreckage; 23 confirmed dead

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- The wreckage of the small plane that crashed in the Himalayas was found Wednesday, with all 23 passengers confirmed dead.

The Twin Otter propeller-driven plane, operated by Nepal's Tara Air, was on a 20 minute flight from Pokhara to Jomsom, an air distance of 41 miles over the Himalaya Mountains, when it lost contact with control towers 10 minutes after it took off. Twenty three passengers, including two infants and three crewmembers were on board.

The airline said a Chinese national and Kuwaiti national were among those on board. The rest of the passengers were Nepali.

Rescuers used helicopters to search for the missing plane. Myadgi district Deputy Superintendent of police Bishwa Raj Khadka confirmed the plane was completely destroyed in the crash, and Brig. Gen. Tara Bahadur Karki of the Nepalese army acknowledged then there was little chance of finding survivors.

"The weather was not so clear," minister for civil aviation Ananda Prasad Pokharel said. "Snowfall, rain and thick fog are responsible for the crash." Pokharel's agency is investigating why the pilot took off in bad weather.

Pokhara is a Himalayan resort town, and Jomsom is a starting point for many mountain-climbing expeditions. There are no landing locations between the two towns.

Nepal's aviation safety record is regarded as poor, to the point the European Union banned all Nepalese airlines from flying into its territory in 2013. Since 1949, when the first plane landed in Nepal, more than 700 people have died in more than 70 plane and helicopter crashes.