Five Mexican tourists, pilot killed in helicopter crash in Nepal: What went wrong!
Experts blame violation of the Visual Flying Rules (VFR) for most of the
chopper crashes in the mountains as the leading cause. VFR means fly only
visually - because of the lack of navigation aids in remote areas or unreliability
of GPS-like aids in hilly terrains or a remote manipulation of instruments
in cases of sabotage - as the topography plays havoc especially in the monsoon
(mid-June to September).
Even when VFR is followed, most crashes occur due to CFIT (Controlled Flight
into Terrain) - that is, everything else is OK but the aircraft collides with
hills or trees hidden by the clouds. This also occurs mostly in the monsoon.
On Tueday with Manang, the chopper was brand new, pilot was highly experienced.
But it hit an 'invisible' tree and then crashed against a hillside. This
CFIT occurred when the pilot tried to dodge patches of clouds even as he was
following the VFR.
Simply put, everyone knows flying in the hills during the monsoon is risky,
but the companies want to make more money in any which case. This type of
tragedy is very frequently invited in the Indian hill State of Uttarakhand
as well, where pilots are even made to fly without the mandatory rest.
KATHMANDU, July 12: All five Mexican tourists and the pilot aboard an Airbus
H125 helicopter of Manang Air were killed on Tuesday when the chopper crashed
minutes after takeoff from the foothills of the Everest for Kathmandu in poor
weather conditions. All the bodies have been recovered.
The pilot was a Nepali. The Mexicans were two men and three women of same family
(father, mother, son and two daughters). One of them was a doctor, Dr (Ms) Abril
Sifuentes González, at Mexico's National Cancer Institute. The family was on
a tour of Nepal after a round of some of India's tourist destinations, it is
reported.
After the helicopter tour of the Everest, the tallest peak in the world at
8,848.86 metres, lasting one hour, they were returning to Kathmandu. They had
booked the helicopter tour at the most unsuitable time - the monsoon. Flights
are risky in the treacherous weather. Climbers also do not venture, it is slippery.
The chopper took off from Lukla, the famous base point for Everest climbing
expeditions, and landed at Surke nearby for refueling. (Surke is an alternative
landing site for helicopters in poor weather, 6 minutes flying time below Lukla
airfield). From Surke the helicopter took off at 10:05 am (local time). At 10:13
it lost contact with Lukla airport, according to a statement issued by the Civil
Aviation Authority of Nepal.
It took five hours for rescuers to locate the site. It is believed the chopper
hit a hillside in poor visibility. It was raining even when the rescuers reached
there. The wreckage was found in Likhupike Rural Municipality of Solukhumbu
district. Local people said it crashed with a loud explosion and they saw a
huge fire at the site.
The dead have been identified as 1. CAPT. C.B. Gurung (Pilot) Nepali 2. Sifuentes
G. Ferrando - Mexican 3. Gonzalez Abric - Mexican 4. Gonzalez Olacio Luz - Mexican
5. Sifuentes G. Maria Jose - Mexican 6. Rincon Ismael Mexican.
It is said in Nepal that flight route changes are common because of frequent
variations in weather conditions around the Everest. So did the Mexicans' chopper.
Especially, it rains heavily during this time of the year in the Indian plains
and the Himalayas due to the south-west monsoon. Visibility can suddenly turn
very poor due to unpredictable weather conditions. Mid-June onwards is always
a monster season for tourism in the hills. And flying in Nepal is visual, without
aids available in remote and inaccessible mountainous terrain. Also it is advised
like that.
It was officially stated that Manang Air helicopter 9N-AMV (AS350) which went
missing in the morning at 10:13 local time was found crashed in Likhupike, in
Solukhumbu district, Ward No. 5, near Lampura Pass.
Two rescue helicopters brought the bodies to Kathmandu. They are expected to
be handed over to the Mexican embassy after autopsy.
The helicopter, now named Airbus Helicopters H125, was manufactured in France.
Acquired in 2018.
The crash has been described technically as "controlled flight
into terrain (CFIT)", which means that the aircraft was airworthy and under
control of the pilot, but hits the ground and the pilot is unaware until it
is too late. “The helicopter initially hit the top of a tree and then hit the
sloppy ridge with a huge impact between two passes in a dense forest,” Manang
Air was quoted in reports. But the CFIT happened as the pilot would have tried
to dodge the cloud patches. The last contact was when it was over Lamjura Pass.
Air accidents are very common in Nepal, especially of choppers as the companies
undertake trips off-season to enhance their profits, ignoring the topography
and weather conditions. And, there is not much sightseeing possible without
choppers!
In January this year, a Yeti airlines plane crash killed 71 people in Pokhara.
On May 29, 2022, Tara Air Flight 197 crashed in Jomsom, killing all 22 people
on board.
There have been 941 fatalities in 73 air crashes in Nepal since 1962.
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Experts blame violation of the Visual Flying Rules (VFR) for most of the
chopper crashes in the mountains as the leading cause. VFR means fly only
visually - because of the lack of navigation aids in remote areas or unreliability
of GPS-like aids in hilly terrains or a remote manipulation of instruments
in cases of sabotage - as the topography plays havoc especially in the monsoon
(mid-June to September).
Even when VFR is followed, most crashes occur due to CFIT (Controlled Flight
into Terrain) - that is, everything else is OK but the aircraft collides with
hills or trees hidden by the clouds. This also occurs mostly in the monsoon.
On Tueday with Manang, the chopper was brand new, pilot was highly experienced.
But it hit an 'invisible' tree and then crashed against a hillside. This
CFIT occurred when the pilot tried to dodge patches of clouds even as he was
following the VFR.
Simply put, everyone knows flying in the hills during the monsoon is risky,
but the companies want to make more money in any which case. This type of
tragedy is very frequently invited in the Indian hill State of Uttarakhand
as well, where pilots are even made to fly without the mandatory rest.
