Two helicopters collide while landing near Everest in Nepal's Pheriche, Indian tourist killed
Two helicopters collided head-on while landing at a heliport near Mount Everest in Nepal. An Indian tourist was killed in the incident.
A New Zealand citizen and two pilots were injured. The injured were rescued and taken to Kathmandu.
According to Reuters, the collision took place on Tuesday morning (3 November) in the Pheriche area of Solukhumbu district between helicopters of Fishtail Air and Air Dynasty.
According to the Kathmandu Post, the two helicopters collided at 8:11am local time. Solukhumbu district police inspector Mausam Tamang said the deceased was Indian citizen Basant Kumar Balaramaramadu, who was on the Fishtail Air helicopter.
Shailesh Krishna Patel, a New Zealand citizen of Indian origin travelling on the same helicopter, was injured. The pilots of both helicopters were also slightly injured, officials said.
Solukhumbu chief district officer Kaman Singh Thapa Magar told Reuters the injured New Zealand citizen had been rescued. Police have not yet been able to confirm how many passengers in total were on the two helicopters at the time.
An alleged video of the accident has already spread on social media. It shows the rotor blades of the two helicopters striking each other just before landing, with both aircraft crashing onto snow-covered ground within moments.
Small helicopters are widely used in Nepal's mountainous regions for tourists, climbers, emergency supplies and rescue work. However, the country's rugged terrain and rapidly changing weather have long made its aviation sector risky.
Experts say air is very thin in high mountain areas, so rotor blades cannot generate sufficient lift. Maintaining efficient engine combustion in low-density air is also difficult, reducing power and making helicopter operations in mountain areas very difficult.
