Nepal: Helicopter carrying six persons that went missing from Manang crashes

Five Mexican citizens were among the six occupants onboard a private commercial helicopter that crashed in Nepal’s eastern region on Tuesday after going missing near Mount Everest on Tuesday.

Gyanendra Bhul, Manager at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), reported that the Manang Air NA-MV helicopter abruptly lost touch at a height over 12,000 feet at 10:13 am after departing Surke Airport in Solukhumbu district at 10:04 am for Kathmandu.

The isolated, mountainous Solukhumbu district’s Lamjura location is where the helicopter came to a stop.

As a rescue effort is under progress, a top TIA official indicated that a thorough report is yet to emerge.

The official said that the neighbourhood residents had told him that the helicopter had crashed with a loud explosion and that they had seen flames at the disaster site.

The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported rural municipality deputy chair Nwang Lhakpa as stating, “The locals discovered the crashed helicopter at Chihandanda.”

According to Raju Neupane, operating and safety manager of Manang Air, the helicopter’s last known position was in the Lamjura Pass region at 10:12 am.

The neighbourhood has been given access to local police. The senior airport official said that two helicopters deployed earlier to identify the accident site had to return owing to severe weather and that the precise cause of the disaster is yet unknown.

The chopper was driven by Chet B Gurung and contained five citizens of Mexico.

Five of the six persons who were aboard the helicopter’s remains were discovered at the accident scene, the news portal MyRepublica said, citing sources.

Earlier, TIA spokesperson Teknath Sitaula told the news outlet that the search was underway because “it has been reported that the helicopter of Manang Air is out of contact, there is no contact with the tower when it reached the Lamjura pass.”

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 individualised services like expedition work or helicopter tours for adventure travellers.