According to officials from Nepal, 22 people were aboard a private plane that was operated by a Nepalese airline. The aircraft went missing in Nepal on Sunday.

Officials said that the Tara Air aircraft took off from Pokhara (125km/80 miles west of Capital Kathmandu) and was heading towards Jomsom. It is about 80 km north-east of Jomsom.

Tara Air mostly flies Twin Otter turboprop aircraft that were built in Canada.

In a statement, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal reported that one search helicopter was damaged in bad weather and returned to Jomsom. The plane wasn’t located.

When the weather is better, helicopters can take off to search Kathmandu from Pokhara or Jomsom. Search teams from the Army and Police have already begun to move towards this site.

According to the airline, it was carrying 4 Indians, 2 Germans, 16 Nepalis and 3 crew. It said that seven of the passengers were female.

According to an airline official, the plane was supposed to touch down at Jomsom five minutes prior, which is popular as a pilgrimage and tourist site.

According to the country’s meteor office, there has been heavy cloud cover over the Pokhara–Jomson region since morning.

Prem Kumar Dani, a police official, stated that a team of land-rescue-and-search officers was sent to the region near Mount Dhaulagiri (26,795 feet), the seventh highest peak in the world.

Everest is the highest mountain in Nepal. The weather in Nepal can be unpredictable and the airstrips are often located in mountainous terrains that make it difficult to reach.

Early 2018, 51 passengers on board a US Bangladesh Airlines flight that flew from Dhaka to Kathmandu died when the plane crashed.

All 167 passengers on board a Pakistan International Airlines flight were killed in 1992 when the plane crashed into a hill while trying to land in Kathmandu.