Two helicopters collide while landing near Everest in Nepal, Indian tourist killed
Two helicopters collided as they were landing at the same helipad in Pheriche, on the main trekking route to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, on Tuesday morning, 3 November. A 47-year-old Indian tourist from Chennai was killed, Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority said. A New Zealander travelling with him and the pilots of both helicopters were injured. The cause is not yet known and an investigation has begun.
Two helicopters collided as they were trying to land at the same helipad in Pheriche, in Nepal's Mount Everest region, on Tuesday morning, 3 November, killing an Indian tourist, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said. The Kathmandu Post said it is believed to be the first mid-air helicopter collision in Nepal.
According to the CAAN statement, both aircraft were AS350 single-engine helicopters. An Air Dynasty Heli Service helicopter, registered 9N-AOD, had flown in from Lukla airport on a cargo flight and had no passengers on board. A Fishtail Air helicopter, registered 9N-AJR, was arriving from Gorakshep, near Everest Base Camp, with two foreign passengers. The collision happened at about 8:12 a.m. local time, while both were coming in to land.
The authority named the dead passenger as Vasanth Kumar Balaramudu, 47, from Chennai in India's Tamil Nadu state, who was aboard the Fishtail Air helicopter. The other passenger, Shailesh Krishna Patel, a New Zealand citizen of Indian origin, was injured, along with the pilots of both helicopters, according to local police. The injured were flown to Kathmandu for treatment. Police said the victim's body was taken to Lukla before being transferred to Kathmandu for a post-mortem examination.
Footage of the collision at the Pheriche helipad, shared on X:
NEW: Two helicopters collided as they prepared to land in Nepal’s Mount Everest region, an Indian national has been killed and a New Zealander injured
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The Kathmandu Post reported that a video circulating on social media shows the Fishtail Air helicopter descending quickly as it approached the helipad, while the Air Dynasty helicopter came in from the opposite direction. The rotor blades of the Air Dynasty aircraft hit the windows of the Fishtail Air helicopter's passenger cabin when both were still 2 to 3 metres above the ground. No fire broke out after the impact, AeroTime reported.
The cause has not been determined, and CAAN has opened an investigation. "Preliminary reports suggest miscommunication between the pilots, as the area is outside the coverage of Lukla Airport's air traffic control tower and pilots have to communicate with each other," CAAN director general Mukesh Dangol told The Kathmandu Post. A senior Solukhumbu district official told the Hindustan Times the weather was clear at the time.
Pheriche lies at more than 4,200 metres above sea level on the main trekking route to Everest Base Camp. There are no roads in the area, and helicopters are used to carry cargo and to fly out trekkers who cannot walk back down. The crash came during the busy autumn trekking season. Fishtail Air said its helicopter was carrying passengers who had been rescued from the Everest region, ABC News reported.