Google – AFP, Deepak Adhikari (AFP), 16 February 2014
 |
Aerial view
of the Himalayas seen from Pokhara, some of 200 kms west of
Kathamndu, taken
December 4, 2007 from an ultra-light aircraft (AFP/File,
Prakash Mathema)
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Kathmandu —
Rescuers in Nepal's mountainous west searched on foot Sunday for a missing
Nepal Airlines plane carrying 18 people, as officials called off a helicopter
hunt due to poor visibility.
The plane
carrying 15 passengers including an infant and three crew lost contact with air
traffic controllers shortly after taking off from the popular tourist town of
Pokhara, airline officials and police said.
The
aircraft from the state-run carrier was travelling to the town of Jumla, 353
kilometres (220 miles) west of Kathmandu, when air traffic controllers lost
contact.
It left
Pokhara at 1.30 pm and disappeared 15 minutes later, police spokesman Ganesh KC
told AFP.
One of the
passengers is from Denmark, said airline spokesman Ram Hari Sharma.
The rest of
those on board -- including Manab Sejuwal, a local politician from the ruling
Nepali Congress party -- are from Nepal.
More than
150 police are taking part in the search, which is now focused on the hilly
district of Arghakhanchi, 226 kilometres west of the capital, said local
official Govinda Panthi.
Heavy rain
hampered earlier efforts with two helicopters forced to turn back because of
bad weather, said Bimlesh Lal Karna, chief air traffic controller at the
country's largest airport in Kathmandu.
"The
weather was not bad at the time the plane went missing... it worsened later
on," Karna told AFP.
"We
have now stopped the helicopter search. But the search on foot will continue
until we find the plane."
Police
fanned out across villages in the remote region, trekking uphill to locate the
missing aircraft.
The
incident again raises concerns about the Himalayan nation's aviation sector,
which has come under fire from international authorities after a series of
fatal accidents.
The
European Union in December banned all the country's airlines from flying to the
EU.
Nepal,
which counts tourism as a major contributor to its economy, has suffered a
number of air crashes in recent years, which have usually been attributed to
inexperienced pilots, poor management and inadequate maintenance.
A Chinese
tourist and a local pilot were killed when an ultra-light aircraft crashed into
a hill in Pokhara last October.
Last May 21
people including eight Japanese tourists were hurt when a small plane skidded
off an airport runway in northern Nepal and plunged into a river.
Fifteen
people were killed at the same airport in May 2012 when a plane carrying Indian
pilgrims crashed into a mountain.
In
September 2012 19 people, including seven Britons and four Chinese, were killed
after an Everest-bound plane crashed minutes after taking off from Kathmandu,
in an accident which the government blamed on a "panic-stricken"
pilot.
At the time
of the blacklisting last year, EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said the
country's safety record "does not leave us any other choice".
Government
officials said the ban was "unfortunate" and came after months spent
on upgrading safety and monitoring aircraft.
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