A chartered Agni Air plane en route from Pokhara to Jomsom in Mustang crashed on a hilltop some one nautical mile (1.8 Kms) west of the Jomsom airport on Monday morning, killing15 persons on board.
According to Laxmi Raj Sharma, the Mustang chief district officer, 15 bodies have been recovered. Among those killed are pilot Prabhu Sharan Pathak and co-pilot JD Maharjan. The rest of the victims are Indian nationals who were on a pilgrimage to the Muktinath temple.
The air hostess R Haiju and five other passengers, including two children, an Indian national and two Europeans, have been rescued alive. All the injured have been airlifted to Pokhara. Of the injured, three are receiving treatment at Manipal Hospital.
Pramod Pandey, sales and marketing director of the Agni Air, quoting hospital sources said the Indian national is in critical condition, while the rest are out of danger. The two Europeans have been identified as Danish nationals.
The plane 9N AIG-D228 (Dornier) had left Pokhara airport at 9:30 am, carrying 18 passengers with three crew members, and crashed fifteen minutes later on the cliff, while it was about to return to Pokhara following technical glitch, Yogendra Kunwar, assistant manager at air traffic control in the Pokhara airport said.
Locals, police and Nepal Army personnel are carrying out search operation. CDO Sharma said search operation being hampered due to strong winds at the crash site.
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