Helicopter crash in northwestern Nepal leaves 5 dead

(MENAFN) On Wednesday, a tragic helicopter crash claimed the lives of all five people onboard in the mountains just northwest of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. The victims included four men and one woman, whose bodies were retrieved from the wreckage by rescue teams. Krishna Prasad Humagai, the government administrator for Nuwakot district, confirmed the fatalities and detailed the recovery efforts.

Rescue operations involved both police and army personnel, with two additional rescue helicopters deployed to the crash site located in the Suryachaur area, a forested mountainous region northwest of Kathmandu. The Eurocopter AS350, operated by Nepal-based Air Dynasty, had departed from Kathmandu International Airport at 1:54 p.m. local time, bound for Syaprubeshi. The helicopter lost contact with air traffic control just three minutes after takeoff.

The passengers on the ill-fated flight were identified as Chinese nationals, while the pilot was a Nepali. This accident occurred only two weeks after another devastating aviation incident in Nepal. On that occasion, a passenger plane crashed shortly after departing from Kathmandu Airport, resulting in 18 deaths and leaving only one survivor, the pilot. The crashed aircraft, a Bombardier CRJ 200 operated by Saurya Airlines, was en route to Pokhara for maintenance. The majority of those onboard were Nepali, with one passenger being a Yemeni national. A government investigation is underway to determine the causes of that crash, and the injured pilot has since been discharged from the hospital.

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