Nepal Confirms Fatal Crash of Tara Air DCH-6-300

DALLAS - Officials in Nepal today confirmed that all 22 passengers and crew aboard Tara Air (TB) Flight 197, which went missing on Saturday morning, have perished.

Confirmation came as rescue workers pulled the last body from the 9N-AET wreckage.

A spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Deo Chandra Lal Karn, said that workers were waiting for the weather to improve so that they could transport the remaining bodies from the crash site in the Himalayas to Kathmandu.

The crash site is located almost 14,700 feet (4,500 meters) high in the mountains northwest of Kathmandu.

Of the dead, three were crew members. Nineteen passengers were on board, including Nepali nationals, Germans and Indian nationals.

The Twin Otter, 9N-AET, was making the 20-minute flight from to Jomsom (JMO) from Pokhara (PKR), around 200 kilometres west of Kathmandu, when it lost contact with air traffic control. Jomsom is a popular pilgrimage and tourist destination.

The Nepali Times reports that at least 74 people have died on the route in five plane crashes since 1997.

Featured image: Tara air De Haviland Twin Otter 9N-AET. Photo: Steve Miller, CC-By 2.0 Generic