2010 Okhaldhunga aircraft crash
A Tara Air de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
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| Accident summary | |
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| Date | 15 December 2010 |
| Summary | Under investigation |
| Site | Bilandu Forest, Shreechaur, Okhaldhunga District, Nepal |
| Passengers | 19 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 22 (all) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter |
| Operator | Tara Air |
| Registration | 9N-AFX |
| Flight origin | Lamidanda Airport, Lamidanda, Nepal |
| Destination | Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal |
 Xinhua photo gallery of the crash site
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Airliners.net photo gallery of the aircraft prior to the crash
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On 15 December 2010, a Tara Air de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter crashed in Nepal shortly after take-off on a domestic passenger flight between Lamidanda Airport, Lamidanda, and Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. The wreckage of the aircraft, registration 9N-AFX, was found in Bilandu forest near the village of Shreechaur, Okhaldhunga District, Nepal, the morning after the crash. All 19 passengers and three crew aboard were killed in the crash. There was initial speculation that bad weather or the overloading of the aircraft might have caused the crash. An investigation into the crash was launched by Nepalese authorities after the accident site was located.
Five minutes after taking off from Lamidanda Airport, Lamidanda, at 15:08 local time, the left wing of the aircraft impacted land and the DHC-6 crashed. The aircraft was reportedly scheduled to land in Kathmandu at around 15:35, 35 minutes after departing Lamidanda, but it did not. All 19 passengers and three crew members aboard were killed in the crash.
Helicopters searched for the wreckage of the aircraft on the day of the crash, but was called off during the night because of poor visibility, even though night vision equipment was installed on the helicopters. The day after the crash, the Nepalese Army located the wreckage in Okhaldhunga, Nepal, at an altitude of approximately 2,700 metres (8,900 ft). All 22 bodies were recovered by rescuers. The wreckage of the aircraft reportedly covered 200 square metres (2,200 sq ft), and, according to a police spokesperson, had "broken up completely".
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