The government, which had so far refrained from making any statement, formally declared all 22 dead, and constituted a 5-member inquiry committee under senior aeronautical engineer Ratindra Lal Suman. The committee has been asked to establish this and recommend measures to prevent any such incident in future.
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Among the 19 passengers – three were crew members – four were Indians, who were on their way to Muktinath temple near Jomsom where the Tara Air Twin Otter plane that took off from Pokhara was to land on Sunday morning. He lost contact with ATC minutes before he was in Jomsom.
Meanwhile, PTI reported that, as per the preliminary investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). Bad weather caused the accident.
The Indians have been identified as Ashok Kumar Tripathi and Vaibhavi Bandekar, a estranged couple and their children. Dhanush and Ritika.
Another family of four were also on board the flight – Ganesh and Rashmi Shrestha and their two daughters studying in the US.
The Nepal Army, which led the search and rescue operation in coordination with the Nepal Police and the Armed Police, sent 10 of the 21 bodies to Kathmandu in a Mi-17 helicopter. Officials said the bodies would be handed over to the families after post-mortem and identification.
The remaining 11 bodies will be brought to the capital once the weather conditions improve. The bodies will be taken from the crash site to the Thabang helipad where two private helicopters are waiting. At around 4 pm, the team abandoned the search for the 22nd body after visibility was reduced due to dense fog.