All the six occupants of a tourist helicopter in Nepal have been fatally injured , when it crashed soon after take-off near Mount Everest on Tuesday.
The Private Tourist Airbus H125 Ecureuil (AS 350B3e) Helicopter (9N-AMV) crashed , killing all six occupants that included One Nepali and 5 Mexicans earlier Today.
Five bodies and the wreckage of the helicopter was found on Lamjura Pass at an altitude of 4,200m at the foothills of Mt Everest.
During the ill fated flight , the Manang Air chopper was heading for the capital Kathmandu from near Lukla, the gateway for climbing expeditions to the world's highest peak, but lost contact about 10 minutes after taking off at around 10:04 am (0419 GMT).
As per Gyanendra Bhul of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal , "Six bodies have been found at the crash site." Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has released a press note providing further details on the crash,
Nepal is famous for its poor aviation safety, and the latest fatal crash, that will raise many questions again , comes only six months after an ATR72 aircraft (9N-ANC) crash that killed all 72 people on board.
Notable here is , Flying in Nepal amidst the highest mountains in the world is already difficult, and the aviation authorities allow pilots to only fly visually because of the lack of navigation aids in remote areas.
The Himalayan land locked country has some of the world's most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots. Inaddition to this , the weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating real difficult flying conditions.
Nepal's aviation sector has also been plagued by insufficient training and maintenance. Sources say, there have been 941 fatalities in 73 air crashes in Nepal since 1962, and of these at least 10 have involved helicopters in which 77 people have been killed.
Source : Nepali Times
For sure , the Crash has again highlighted the dangers of flying in Nepal’s challenging topography during the monsoon or low visibility. The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.
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