Kathmandu – The six occupants of a tourist helicopter, five Mexicans and the Nepalese pilot, died on Tuesday in Nepal when the device crashed shortly after takeoff, the air authorities of the Himalayan country reported.
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The Manang Air company plane left on Tuesday, July 11, near Lukla, the entry point for expeditions to climb Mount Everest, and was heading to the capital, Kathmandu, with five Mexican travelers and a Nepali pilot on board.
The helicopter lost contact eight minutes after taking off, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said in a statement, which also confirmed that the victims are five Mexicans (three women and two men) and the Nepalese pilot.
“The six bodies were recovered and taken to Kathmandu,” Pratap Babu Tiwari, director of Tribhuvan International airport, told AFP.
Two helicopters and several ground teams were deployed for a search and rescue mission but were unable to land near the crash site due to weather.
“Teams on the ground took the bodies to helicopters that were able to land nearby,” Tiwari said.
Lhakpa Sherpa, a resident of the area who joined the search and rescue efforts, said the crash site is “very scary.”
“It appears that the helicopter first collided with a tree and then crashed into the ground. It left a small hole in the ground,” he said.
🔴 The Mexican embassy in India, headed by Ambassador Federico Salas Lotfe, reported that “it is in continuous communication and working with the Nepalese authorities”.https://t.co/kc0DuyNY19
— Excelsior (@Excelsior) July 11, 2023
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expressed his “sorrow” over the accident, his office said on Twitter, while the Mexican embassy in India indicated on the same social network that it is “in continuous communication and working with the Nepalese authorities regarding to the tragic accident”.
aviation safety issues
Nepal has a booming private helicopter industry that ferries tourists and cargo to remote corners of this Himalayan country where road access is limited or non-existent.
But the country is known for its poor air security. Tuesday’s incident is the latest in a series of plane crashes in the country.
In May, one person was killed and four injured when a helicopter crashed in eastern Nepal after dropping off cargo for a hydroelectric project.
In 2015, during rescue operations after a devastating earthquake, there were multiple helicopter crashes that claimed more than a dozen lives.
Nepal has some of the most remote and difficult airfields in the world, flanked by snow-capped peaks that present a significant challenge even for accomplished pilots.
The weather can also change rapidly in the mountains, creating very difficult flying conditions.
Nepal’s aviation sector has also been affected by a lack of pilot training and maintenance issues.
In January, a plane crash in the west of the country killed 72 people, including an Argentine. The Yeti Airlines plane crashed into a gorge, broke into pieces and burst into flames as it approached the city of Pokhara (centre).
In 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines plane crashed near the notoriously difficult Kathmandu International Airport, killing 51 people and seriously injuring 20.
In 1992, in the deadliest plane crash in Nepal, 167 people were killed. when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed on approach to Kathmandu airport.
Just two months earlier, a Thai Airways plane had crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people.
The European Union has banned all Nepali airlines from entering its airspace for security reasons.
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