18 killed in a plane crash in western Nepal

A twin otter aircraft belonging to the Nepal Airlines (NA) that went missing with 15 passengers and three crew members on board Sunday afternoon was found crashed in a Jungle in Arghakanchi district in western Nepal killing all on board on Monday morning.
 
A group of local youths who had reached the jungle to play in snow found the wreckage of the crashed aircraft and bodies scattered around the jungle.

The bodies have been ferried to the district headquarters Sandhikharka by the Nepal Army’s helicopter. The bodies have not been identified as they turned into pieces.

The Nepal Army claimed its helicopter had detected the wreckage of the aircraft for the first time.

The ill-fated aircraft had taken off from Pokhara for Jumla with 18 people on board including three crew members, on Sunday afternoon and went missing about half an hour since take off.

Civil Aviation Authority Nepal (CAAN) Sunday confirmed that the aircraft crashed in the jungle of Khidim area in Arghakhanchi district when it was heading towards Jumla from the Pokhara airport.
  
After the helicopters flown from Nepalgunj to the crash site failed to land due to bad weather, the search operation was halted on Sunday.

The 19-seater aircraft with its calling code 9N ABB DHC6 made its last contact with the air traffic of Bhairahawa at 1:13 pm after its takeoff from Pokhara, read a press statement issued by the Civil Aviation Authority Nepal (CAAN) on Sunday evening.

The plane initially flown from Kathmandu had landed at the Pokhara airport for refueling before it took off for Jumla at 12:43 pm.

Passengers on board the missing plane included local politicians, schoolteachers, journalists, a minor and a Danish national, said CAAN.
 
According to Chief of Pokhara-based Nepal Airlines Mahesh Moktan, the plane went out of contact around 1:15 after it contacted with the Bhairahawa Airport.

It is suspected that the aircraft crashed hitting a mountain on the rainy and foggy afternoon. According to news reports published on Monday, the ill-fated plane was the same plane which was hijacked by Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and other Nepali Congress leaders 40 years ago when it was flying to Kathmandu carrying Rs. 3 million (Indian currency) from Biratnagar in 1973.