Kathmandu, February 24
The Tara Air plane that went missing along the Pokhara-Jomsom sector on Wednesday morning is a Viking DHC 6-400 series twin-otter. Made in Canada, it was brought to Nepal about five months ago.
These kinds of planes operate along sectors that have STOL (short take off and landing) runways, in Lukla, Faplu, Jomsom, Rara and Simikot.
While selling the plane, the manufacturing company had claimed that the plane was safe as it was equipped with modern technologies. The company claimed it was the best plane in the STOL series.
According to the company, the plane is fitted with the avionics system. The plane has caller weather radar that shows weather conditions. Apart from these features, the plane has EGPWS (Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System) aviation equipment that measures the distance between the plane and the land as well as the TCAS (traffic collision avoidance system).
While bringing in the plane, Tara had claimed that this kind of plane is capable of flying in hostile weather conditions like Antarctica, North Africa, Indian Ocean regions and Himalayas.
Tara aims to replace its 300 series and Dornier DO 228-212 with Viking Series 400. It has been operating flights along remote sectors of Nepal since 1998.
