Helicopter crashes in Nepal, killing six

Six people, including five Mexican tourists and a Nepalese pilot, died on Tuesday (11) in a helicopter crash near Mount Everest, located in Nepal. According to local authorities, the incident happened with a short break after taking off. The aircraft, belonging to the company Manang Air, took off at 10:04 am local time (01:19 am in Brasilia time) in Surke, near Lukla, in the Everest area, bound for the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, but lost contact with the control tower ten minutes after the start of takeoff.

“Six bodies were located in the territory close to Mount Everest where the helicopter crashed”reported to the international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) Gyanendra Bhul, manager of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

_{Note from the Embassy of Mexico in India informing about the case and offering condolences to the relatives of the victims. (Reproduction/Instagram: @embamexind)}

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According to the Civil Aviation authorities of Nepal, the Mexican tourists from the same family who died in the incident are María José Sifuentes, 52 years old; Fernando Sifuentes, 95; Abril González Sifuentes, 72; Luz González Olacio, 65; and Ismael Rincón Sifuentes, 98. The 55-year-old Nepalese pilot was Chet Bahadur Gurung.

The company Manang Air

The helicopter airline Manang Air was created in 1997 and has its headquarters in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.

The company uses helicopters in commercial air transport around Nepalese territory with the presence of Regulation of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.

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The firm also operates in the provision of chartered services and participates in special services, including excursions, expedition services and adventure with a focus on tourism.

Nepal in air accidents

The country is registered for setbacks in air disasters and marked an occurrence of an air accident in a short period, less than six months after the incident, which led to the death of 72 people who were present on the aircraft.

Among the reasons that make the region difficult to access, even for the most experienced pilots, the remote runways, extremes with a high amount of snow and the rather unstable climate act as factors that make air service difficult in the place. Other points such as the lack of conservation of the runways and the lack of preparation carried out by those responsible for piloting local aircraft contribute to additional risk factors for accidents.

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In the helicopter tragedies in Nepal, one person died and four were injured when a helicopter crashed in the east of the country. In 2015, several events with helicopters caused dozens of deaths.

Regarding plane accidents, an event with the Yeti Airlines aircraft in the Nepal region in early 2023, in January, caused the death of 72 people. In 2018, there was an episode with US-Bangla Airlines with the crash near Kathmandu International Airport, with 51 deaths and 20 people with serious injuries.

In the last century, the occurrence in 1992 marked the history of Nepal, with the air accident with the highest number of victims in the history of the territory, with 167 deaths near the famous airport of the capital, Kathmandu, on a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft. The year was marked by tragedies in the air, and on July 31, 1992, a Thai plane from the company Thai Airways International, crashed near the capital, causing 113 deaths.

The European Union, faced with the situation, banned all airlines from Nepal from taking off in its flight area for safety reasons.

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Featured photo: Helicopter crashes in Nepal and causes six deaths. Playback/Twitter: @RuidoEnLaRed