A passenger plane crashed in a mountainous area of Nepal with 21 people on board, hours after it went missing on Wednesday morning. Tara Air said the Twin Otter aircraft lost contact with air traffic control eight minutes after it left the western town of Pokhara on Wednesday morning. "A plane that took off from Pokhara for Jomsom this morning is out of contact," Tara Air spokesman Bhim Raj Rai earlier told AFP. "There are 18 passengers, including two foreigners, and three crew members, on board."

Jomsom is a popular trekking destination in the Himalayas about 20 minutes' flight from Pokhara, which lies 225 kilometres (360 miles) west of Kathmandu. Nepal, which is still reeling from a devastating earthquake last April, has suffered a number of air disasters in recent years, dealing a blow to its tourist industry.

The plane has reportedly crashed in Myagdi district of western Nepal as authorities suspect the crash site to be in Rupse Chhahari of Dana VDC in Myagdi district. Security personnel from Nepal police, Armed Police Force and Nepal army are headed to the spot.

Most have been attributed to inexperienced pilots, poor management and inadequate maintenance. The country's aviation sector has come under fire from international authorities and in 2013 the European Union banned all Nepalese airlines from flying there.