Policemen collect the debris found at the crash site of an ultralight aircraft which has been missing since Oct. 8, 2015 in western Pokhara, Nepal, Nov. 13, 2016. An ultralight aircraft with a pilot and a passenger on board went missing in Kaski district of western Nepal on Oct. 8, 2015 and was found after more than a year. (Xinhua/Armed Police Force of Nepal)
KATHMANDU, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- An ultralight aircraft that went missing with a pilot and a passenger on board in western Nepal last year has been found crashed Sunday.
The 9N-ALI aircraft had gone missing in the sky of lake city Pokhara, some 200 kilometers from the capital, on October 8 last year. A team of Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force along with locals were engaged in the aerial and manual search operation.
After 13 months, the wreckage of aircraft with mortal remains of two foreigners on board has been recovered in a gorge.
"We had continued the search operation since a year and an aircraft of Air Dynasty finally located the missing aircraft at a gorge between Mount Annapurna and Mount Machhapuchhre", Pom Narayan Shrestha, owner of the aircraft told Xinhua over phone.
The aircraft was flown by 50-year-old Russian pilot Valerie Buttenin while a 40-year-old South African woman Elizabeth Well was on the board as the only passenger.
The missing aircraft belonged to Pokhara Ultralights Private Limited. According to the company, the aircraft had integrated parachutes for emergency landing, however failed to use.
According to police, the aircraft might have caught fire after it crashed some 11,951 feet at Machhapuchhre VDC in Kaski district.
The ultralight flight is a popular activity among foreign tourists in Pokhara for panoramic views of Himalayan ranges. Though the popular season for such adventure tourism is September-November, ultralight flights have become an all-season activity in the recent years.
