Kathmandu: A small plane with 23 people including two foreigners and two children has gone missing in the mountains of Nepal, an airport official said on Wednesday.

The Twin Otter aircraft, run by Tara Air, was commuting an 18-minute flight from Pokhara, 125 km (80 miles) west of Kathmandu, to Jomsom when it lost contact with the control tower. It was carrying 20 passengers and a crew of three on board. Mustang Police Chief DSP Harihar Yogi established that the Twin Otter is missing.

Pokhara airport official Yogendra Kunwar said, "Two helicopters are on a search-and-rescue mission. There is no trace of the aircraft so far." He also said that there was no landing strip in the middle of the two airports.

Though helicopters had started the search operation in the route of the aircraft two hours after it was supposed to have landed, but the inclement weather conditions have made the job hard, Kumar said.