On Sunday morning, Tara Captain’s twin-engine ship was preparing to fly from Pokhara to Jomsom with 19 passengers led by senior captain Prabhakar Ghimire. And, there was a co-pilot on the same ship,
Utsav Pokharel. At 9:55 in the morning, the ship was preparing to take off from Pokhara. About 4 hours before the plane took off, Utsav had called his father Maniram in Khalga of Jajarkot in the morning.
Maniram is working as a resource person in Nalgad municipality. He was staying at a hotel in Ramwa, Khalanga when his son called. He was accompanied by Man Bahadur Giri, the chief administrative officer of the municipality.
Maniram picked up his son’s phone and spoke through the loudspeaker. “After a while, there is a flight from Pokhara to Jomsom. Now I am getting ready,” said Man Bahadur, who was listening to the conversation between Utsav and his father.
Man Bahadur is shocked to hear that the same ship has gone missing.”After a pleasant conversation between them, the two of us walked to Delhi on Nalgad,” he wrote while posting the conversation between them on Facebook.
Tension started in my mind too and I was sent to Nepalgunj by arranging a vehicle. God has a cry, let everyone be found alive, including Babu Utsav.
It is understood that Utsav is the youngest of Maniram’s two sons. The 25-year-old started working for Tara Air two years ago after completing a pilot course in the Philippines. Maniram’s eldest son Udip Pokharel is also in the Philippines to become a pilot at this time. The morning conversation may not be the last, perhaps in this hope.