A helicopter crash in central Nepal on Wednesday resulted in the deaths of all five individuals on board, including the pilot and four Chinese tourists. The incident occurred when the Air Dynasty chopper, en route from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi—a popular trekking base—lost contact three minutes after takeoff. The helicopter crashed in the Nuwakot district, located north of the capital.
According to a statement from the Civil Aviation Authority, another helicopter was immediately dispatched to the crash site for rescue efforts. However, police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki confirmed that all five passengers and crew members were killed. Nuwakot district officer Ram Krishna Adhikari reported that the wreckage was found in a hilly jungle area, and the cause of the crash is still unknown.
Nepal’s aviation sector, despite its growth in recent years, has a troubling safety record, exacerbated by the country’s challenging mountainous terrain. This difficult geography, coupled with issues such as inadequate training and maintenance, has led to frequent crashes. The European Union has banned Nepali airlines from its airspace due to these safety concerns.
This latest crash comes just two weeks after another tragic plane accident in Kathmandu, which claimed 18 lives, leaving only the pilot as the sole survivor. Additionally, in 2023, a helicopter crash in the Everest region killed six people, including five members of a Mexican family.
he tourism minister, Rabindra Adhikari, was among seven people killed in a 2019 helicopter crash, and in January 2023, a Yeti Airlines flight crashed while landing at Pokhara, resulting in the deaths of all 72 passengers and crew. This incident marked Nepal’s deadliest aviation accident since 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines flight crashed while approaching Kathmandu, killing 167 people. A Thai Airways crash near the same airport earlier that year also claimed 113 lives.
