NEPAL. – An Indian tourist has died and a New Zealand tourist has been injured after two helicopters collided this morning (Tuesday) at a landing site near Mount Everest in Nepal. A Nepalese pilot has also been injured.
The accident occurred at approximately 08:10 local time at Pheriche in the Solukhumbu district at an altitude of approximately 4 371 metres. The deceased has been identified as the 47-year-old Vasanth Kumar Balaramudu. He was a passenger in a Fishtail Air helicopter. The injured New Zealander, Shailesh Krishna Patel, has been taken along with the pilot to a hospital in Kathmandu.
The two helicopters were operated by Fishtail Air and Air Dynasty. The aircraft collided as they attempted to land at the Pheriche landing site. Video footage shows the rotor blades striking each other before the helicopters crash to the ground.
Mukesh Dangol, director-general of Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority, told The Kathmandu Post that preliminary information suggests possible miscommunication between the pilots. The area falls outside the control tower's air traffic management at Lukla airport, which means pilots must communicate directly with each other. The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation.
Pheriche is a popular overnight stop and rest place for trekkers and climbers heading to Everest Base Camp. Helicopters are regularly used in the mountainous region to transport or evacuate tourists, climbers and guides when they are unable to continue due to illness, exhaustion or the challenging altitude.
Sources: The Kathmandu Post, 7NEWS Australia, Al Jazeera
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
