Two helicopters collided while coming in to land at a high-altitude aviation hub in Nepal near Mount Everest, killing one, the police in the Himalayan nation said in a post on X. The dead has been identified as Vasanth Kumar Balaramaramadu, 47, an Indian national, Kathmandu Post reported. The local police have confirmed he was a resident of Chennai.
The incident which the police confirmed happened at a heliport in Solukhumbu, 250 km from the capital city Kathmandu, has gone viral on social media after a purported video of the collision surfaced. NDTV could not independently confirm the authenticity of the video.
The video showed the rotors of the two helicopters hitting each other just before landing, sending the two aircraft crashing on the icy ground below. The two helicopters were operated by Fishtail Air and Dynasty Air.
Small helicopters are widely used in Nepal to transport tourists, climbers and supplies, as well as to carry out emergency evacuations. The country’s challenging terrain and rapidly changing weather conditions make aviation operations particularly hazardous.
MNA
