The pilot and the other four Chinese passengers were among the five people who perished in the Wednesday helicopter crash in central Nepal.
Nepal’s aviation safety record is appalling; over the years, the Himalayan nation has experienced a number of fatal light aircraft and helicopter incidents.
The Air Dynasty helicopter was traveling from Kathmandu, the country’s capital, to Syabrubesi, the beginning point of several well-traveled hiking trails.
According to a news announcement from the Civil Aviation Authority, it lost communication around three minutes after takeoff and crashed in the Nuwakot area to the north of the capital.
“All five people aboard including the pilot are dead,” police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP.
Nuwakot district officer Ram Krishna Adhikari, said five dead bodies have been retrieved from the accident site.
“Police have already reached the site and the rescue operation is going on,” he said. In recent years, Nepal’s aviation sector has expanded rapidly, transporting both people and products to remote locations, as well as foreign hikers and climbers.
However, because to inadequate maintenance and training, together with the hazardous topography of Nepal, it has been beset by poor safety.
Situated between snow-capped peaks, the Himalayan country has some of the world’s most challenging and isolated runways, with approaches that can be difficult for even the most experienced pilots.Due to safety concerns, the European Union has prohibited any carriers from Nepal from using its airspace.
The event on Wednesday occurs two weeks after a plane disaster in Kathmandu that claimed the lives of all 18 occupants save the pilot.
The last significant incident involving a commercial aircraft in Nepal happened in January 2023 when a Yeti Airlines service crashed in Pokhara, killing all 72 people on board.
That was the bloodiest Nepal had seen since 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed on approach to the Kathmandu airport, killing all 167 occupants.
Earlier that year, a Thai Airways plane crashed close to the same airport, killing 113 people.
