Vaibhavi Tripathi and her ex-husband Ashok Tripathi, who were on board a plane with their two children that went missing in Nepal on Sunday, were asked by a family court to go on family leave every year after their divorce, police officials said. was instructed.
The de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft took off from Pokhara at 10.14 a.m., but lost contact with the control tower five minutes before landing at Jomsam, a popular tourist town in central Nepal. Due to inclement weather, rescue teams called off their hunt to locate the plane late on Sunday.
“Vaibhavi and her ex-husband Ashok were mandated by a family court to go on leave of 10 days with their children every year after their divorce. After getting the information, we went to his residence. Vaibhavi works in a company based in Bandra and takes care of her mother, who is not well for a long time. Senior police inspector Uttam Sonawane of Thane’s Kapurbawdi police station said, when she had gone on annual leave with the family, her sister had come to take care of the mother for some time.
Earlier in the day, rescue teams traveled through a remote mountainous area in western Nepal by helicopter and on foot throughout the day on Sunday as weather hampered search flights.
A Nepal Army official told a news agency that the ground troops would stay at a local school for the night and join additional forces in the morning.
“We will resume the search operation from our helicopter tomorrow morning after the weather is clear,” he said.
A spokesman for Pokhara airport told a news agency that three helicopters had to be turned back. “At the moment we cannot say where is the plane and in what condition it is,” he said. “No information or information has been received from the local people about any major fire or such other indications.”
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said a team was heading towards the area where the plane was last seen.
“As the search operations at potential sites have been suspended due to mountainous terrain and inclement weather, the location of the aircraft is still unknown,” the CAAN statement said.
However, the Rescue Coordination Center remains open round the clock and search operations will be intensified through air and land routes. “Tara Air flight 9NAET which took off from Pokhara at 9.55 am today with 22 people on board including 4 Indians has gone missing. Search and rescue operation is on. The embassy is in touch with his family.” Chiranjibi Rana, chief district officer of Myagadi, said local residents reported that the plane made two rounds into Khaibang and headed towards Kitti Danda near Lete pass (2,500 metres).
“A police team has been deployed at the spot. The site is a 12-hour walk from Leyte,” he said. “There are no human settlements in the area where the locals last saw the plane.” A helicopter that took off from Pokhara in search of the missing aircraft returned without any success due to bad weather.
With inputs from Anamika Gharti
