Nepal’s most recent significant commercial flight incident occurred in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines plane crashed during landing in Pokhara, resulting in the death of all 72 passengers on board.
Kathmandu, Nepal: A tragic helicopter crash in central Nepal on Wednesday claimed the lives of all five individuals on board, including the pilot and four Chinese tourists. Nepal has a dismal aviation safety record, with frequent fatal crashes involving light planes and helicopters over the years.
The Air Dynasty helicopter was en route from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi, a popular trekking starting point. The Civil Aviation Authority reported that the helicopter lost contact just three minutes after takeoff and crashed in the Nuwakot district, north of the capital.
Rescue operations commenced immediately with the dispatch of another helicopter to the crash site. “All five people aboard, including the pilot, are dead,” police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki confirmed to AFP. Nuwakot district officer Ram Krishna Adhikari stated that the bodies had been retrieved from the accident site, which was located in a jungle area on a hillside. The cause of the crash remains unknown.
Nepal’s aviation sector has seen significant growth in recent years, catering to the transport needs of remote regions and tourists. However, the industry faces persistent safety challenges, including inadequate training and maintenance, exacerbated by the country’s rugged terrain. Nepal’s airports are among the most challenging in the world, with runways nestled between snow-capped peaks and difficult approaches.
Due to safety concerns, the European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace. This latest crash follows a string of recent accidents, including a plane crash in Kathmandu two weeks ago that killed 18 people except the pilot, and a 2023 helicopter crash in the Everest region that killed six, including five members of a Mexican family. In 2019, Nepal’s tourism minister Rabindra Adhikari was among seven people killed in a helicopter crash.
The country’s deadliest aviation incident in recent history occurred in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines flight crashed while landing in Pokhara, resulting in 72 fatalities. The worst incident before that was in 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed near Kathmandu airport, killing all 167 passengers. Earlier that year, a Thai Airways aircraft also crashed near the same airport, resulting in 113 deaths.
