A small plane carrying 23 people including two foreigners on board and flying in poor visibility over mountainous terrain has gone missing in west Nepal, an airport official said today.

The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Tara Air, was carrying 18 passengers and a crew of three on a flight from Pokhara, west of Kathmandu to Jomsom, when it lost contact with the control tower. Pokhara airport official said two helicopters are on a search-and-rescue mission and there is no trace of the aircraft so far.