Nepal: Rescue teams locate wreckage of missing plane

Nepal's army on Monday found the wreckage of a small passenger plane that went missing on Sunday with 22 people on board.

Authorities said that 21 bodies had so far been recovered from the site and that bad weather was hampering rescue efforts.

"Twenty-one bodies have been recovered and teams are searching for the remaining one," Nepal Army spokesman Narayan Silwal told AFP.

Army spokesman Narayan Silwal posted a photo of the site — where the aircraft's tail number is clearly visible — on Twitter.

Sixteen Nepalis, four Indians and two Germans were on board the plane, according to the airline and government officials. Three among them were members of the crew.

A short flight 

The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Tara Air, lost contact with the control tower shortly after takeoff Sunday morning.

Rescue helicopters had a tough time reaching the terrains of the flight's last known location because of cloudy weather conditions.

The journey was a small one, for about 20 minutes, from Pokhara to Jomsom, a popular tourist and pilgrimage site.

The distance between the two popular tourist destinations is about 80 kilometers (50 miles).

Though the mountainous region of Jomsom received rain the last few days, all flights operated on schedule.

The aircraft, with registration number 9N-AET, had made its first flight in April 1979, according to Flightradar24 plane tracking service.

rm/jsi (Reuters, dpa)