Kathmandu, Nov 3:
An Indian tourist was killed and three others sustained injuries on Tuesday morning when two commercial helicopters collided while attempting to land at Pheriche, located along the Mount Everest Base Camp trekking route in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district.
The incident took place at around 8:11 AM (local time) in Ward 4 of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, at an elevation of approximately 4,200 metres (13,780 feet).
According to local police and civil aviation authorities, the collision involved helicopters operated by Fishtail Air and Air Dynasty.
Preliminary reports suggest that both choppers were attempting to land at the same helipad siteāone arriving from Lukla and the other returning from near the Everest Base Campāwhere recent heavy snowfall may have restricted usable landing pads and contributed to the accident.
The deceased was identified as 47-year-old Vasanth Kumar Balaramaramadu, an Indian national travelling aboard the Fishtail Air helicopter.
Shailesh Krishna Patel, a 49-year-old New Zealand citizen of Indian origin who was also on board the same aircraft, sustained injuries and was airlifted by a Prabhu Air helicopter to Mediciti Hospital in Kathmandu for specialised medical care.
Both pilotsāRabindra Prajapati of Fishtail Air and Prajwal KC of Air Dynastyāalso suffered injuries in the collision and were evacuated to Kathmandu after receiving preliminary emergency medical assistance.
Police confirmed that the body of the deceased Indian national was transferred to a hospital in Lukla, while civil aviation authorities and district officials have launched a formal inquiry into the exact circumstances leading to the collision.