KATHMANDU, Nepal — Rescue teams in Nepal found the wreckage of a small plane carrying 23 people — including two infants — that crashed into a mountain in bad weather Wednesday, authorities said.
All those aboard, including two foreigners, were confirmed dead.
Tara Air’s Twin Otter turboprop aircraft was found in the western district of Myagdi, Civil Aviation Minister Aananda Prasad Pokharel told AFP.
“The wreckage of the plane was found in a completely burnt state in Solighopte in Myagdi district,” Pokharel said. “The team there say that the bodies are scattered and it is not possible to identify anyone right now.”
Helicopters and foot soldiers searched Myagdi, a mountainous district about 160 miles west of Kathmandu, after locals reported seeing wreckage.
The airline said the plane was carrying three crew and 20 passengers, one a Chinese and one a Kuwaiti national — revising an earlier figure of 18 passengers.
All the others were from Nepal and two of them were children.
“We are working to assist the families and friends of the passengers and crew. We cannot undo the pain and grief they feel, but we can share their burden of dealing with this tragedy,” Tara Air said in a statement on its website.
The airline said the plane had lost contact with air traffic controllers eight minutes after taking off from the tourist town of Pokhara early Wednesday.
Weather conditions were good when the plane took off for Jomsom, a popular trekking destination in the Himalayas about 20 minutes’ flight from Pokhara, the airline said.
“The weather at both origin and destination airports was favorable and the airport cleared for departure by the control tower at Pokhara,” it said.
Tara Air is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines, a privately owned domestic carrier founded in 1998 that services many remote destinations across Nepal.
Its last fatal accident was in 2010, when a plane chartered by Bhutanese tourists crashed into a mountain in eastern Nepal.
Aviation expert Kunda Dixit said the area where the plane went down is prone to very strong winds.
“Most flights in the area fly before 9:30 a.m. because very strong winds pick up after that,” he told AFP. “It is very strange because it is a brand-new plane and the weather was clear in the morning. The pilot is very experienced and focused on safety, I flew with him only 10 days ago.”
Two years ago, a Twin Otter plane belonging to the national carrier Nepal Airlines crashed after taking off from Pokhara, killing all 18 people on board.
The country’s aviation sector has been criticized by international authorities, and in 2013 the European Union blacklisted all of Nepal’s airlines.