Before traveling to Nepal, the Mexican Family Killed in the Helicopter visited India
The five Mexican citizens who died in a helicopter accident on Tuesday in eastern Nepal close to Mount Everest had traveled to India first.
Tuesday at 10:04 a.m., the Manang Air chopper 9N-AMV took off for Kathmandu from Surke Airport in the Solukhumbu area. At 10:13 a.m., communication was abruptly lost at an altitude of more than 12,000 feet.
The isolated, mountainous Solukhumbu district’s Lamjura location is where the helicopter came to a stop.
The pilot who passed away has been named as Captain CB Gurung, a citizen of Nepal. All of the victims of the collision were Mexican citizens, and their names were Fernando Sifuentes (age 95), Abril Sifuentes Gonzalez (age 72), Luz Gonzalez Olacio (age 65), Maria Jose Sifuentes (age 52), and Ismael Rincon (age 98).
As one of the fatalities, Abril Sifuentes Gonzalez, uploaded a picture of herself on social media on July 5 in front of the Taj Mahal days before the catastrophe, the family also traveled to India.
According to Mexican News Daily, the dead were family members who were originally from Nuevo Leon, according to Federico Salas, Mexico’s ambassador to India.
It was a family of five who were essentially tourists. They visited Nepal. (…) There were a mother, a father, and three kids. (…) They were not little children; the parents and kids were grownups,” Salas was cited as saying by Infobae Mexico.
The corpses are now being detained at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for a post-mortem. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN)’s information officer, Gyanendra Bhul, was cited in The Himalayan Times newspaper.
Sudan Kirati, the minister of culture, tourism, and civil aviation, said to the media in Janakpurdham that the government will launch a thorough inquiry to determine what exactly caused this terrible tragedy.
According to Mukti Pandey, director of Manang Air, “all the deceased passengers were from the same Mexican family and had flown to the Khumbu region yesterday for a mountain flight as well as to observe Sherpa culture.”
The climbing and tourism seasons in Nepal came to an end in May. Because of the low visibility and changeable weather at this time of year, fewer aircraft bring visitors to the highlands.
Manang Air is a helicopter carrier located in Kathmandu that was established in 1997. Under the rules of the Nepalese Civil Aviation Authority, it has been using helicopters for commercial air transportation inside the country of Nepal.
The business offers chartered services and focuses on specialized services including expedition work, helicopter tours, and adventure flights.
Nepal has a troubled history of aviation mishaps, in part because of its abrupt weather changes and airstrips situated in difficult-to-reach mountainous terrains.
35 deadly helicopter accidents have happened in Nepal, according to CAAN records.
Four helicopter accidents were recorded in the nation in 2023 alone.
Early in May, a Simrik Air chopper crashed in the Sankhuwasabha area, tragically killing one passenger and injuring four others. In a similar vein, this year’s helicopter crashes involving Heli Everest and Air Dynasty resulted in no fatalities.
