Mount Everest has been home to thousands of tourists who want to explore the summit of the famous highest point in the world. There are also a lot of mishaps around the area, as it was reported that a helicopter crashed yesterday.
At least five people have been killed after a helicopter carrying foreign tourists crashed near Mount Everest in Nepal on Tuesday. Another person in the aircraft was still missing. The helicopter was carrying five Mexican nationals and a Nepali pilot and had gone missing earlier in the day.
The helicopter crashed in the Lamajura area. Rescuers recovered five bodies andsearched for a sixth, said Basanta Bhattarai, the chief government administrator in the area. The aircraft brought tourists back to the capital, Kathmandu, in the morning after a sightseeing trip to the world’s highest peak.
The site where the helicopter crashed
Airport official Sagar Kadel said weather conditions forced changes to the helicopter’s planned flight route. Flights are often delayed and routes changed during the monsoon season amid heavy rains. The tourist and mountaineering seasons end in May with the rainyseason. Tourist flights to the mountains are less common this time of year as visibility is poor and weather conditions become unpredictable.
The helicopter was operated by Manang Air. The company said the chopper took off at 10:04 a.m. (04:19 GMT) from Surke in Solukhunvhu district, home to Mount Everest and other high mountain peaks, but lost contact about 10 minutes later. The incident comes almost six months after a plane crashed in western Nepal, killing all 72 people on board. The Himalayan country has some of the world’s most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks, with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.
The weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions. In addition, Nepal’s aviation sector is plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance. The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.
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