Indian national killed as two helicopters collide at Everest region helipad in Nepal
A 47-year-old Indian national was killed and three other people were injured when two helicopters collided while landing at a helipad in Nepal's Solukhumbu district on Tuesday morning, Nepal Police said.
The collision took place at Pheriche, in Ward 4 of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, at about 8.11 a.m. local time, according to the District Police Office, Solukhumbu. The two helicopters, operated by Fishtail Air and Air Dynasty, struck each other as they came in to land, the police statement said.
Police Inspector Mausam Tamang identified the deceased as Vasanth Kumar Balaramaramadu, who was travelling aboard the Fishtail Air helicopter.
Shailesh Krishna Patel, a 49-year-old New Zealand resident of Indian origin who was on the same helicopter, was injured in the collision. He was airlifted to Mediciti Hospital in Kathmandu by a Prabhu Helicopter, Inspector Tamang said.
Both pilots, Nepali nationals Rabindra Prajapati of Fishtail Air and Prajwal KC of Air Dynasty, were also injured and have been taken to Kathmandu for further treatment.
The body of Balaramaramadu has been taken to a hospital in Lukla, police said.
Police said they were still working to confirm how many passengers were aboard the two helicopters at the time of the collision, and that further details were being gathered. The cause of the incident has not been established.
Pheriche lies on the trekking route to Mount Everest Base Camp, about 150 km northeast of Kathmandu, at an altitude of more than 4,000 metres. The settlement is a common halt for trekkers and climbers and has a helipad used for ferrying people and supplies and for medical evacuations.
Helicopters play a central role in the Khumbu region, where road access is limited and weather conditions can change quickly. The autumn months are among the busiest for trekking and mountaineering traffic in the area, with regular shuttle flights between Kathmandu, Lukla and higher-altitude sites.
Tuesday's collision is the latest incident involving aircraft in Nepal's mountainous terrain, where high-altitude operations and fast-shifting weather have long posed challenges for operators and regulators.
Nepal Police confirmed the incident in a post on social media, saying one person had died and another was injured when the two helicopters came into contact at the Pheriche helipad.
Further information on the circumstances of the collision, including the sequence of the landing approaches and the total number of people on board, was awaited as police completed their preliminary assessment.
