KATHMANDU, Aug 7, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A helicopter crashed in central Nepal on
Wednesday, killing all five people aboard including the pilot and four
Chinese passengers.

Nepal has a woeful track record on aviation safety and the Himalayan republic
has seen a spate of deadly light plane and helicopter crashes over the
decades.

The Air Dynasty chopper was heading to Syabrubesi, a starting point for many
trekking routes popular with tourists, from the capital Kathmandu.

It lost contact about three minutes after taking off, a press release from
the Civil Aviation Authority said, and crashed in Nuwakot district north of
the capital.

"All five people aboard including the pilot are dead," police spokesman Dan
Bahadur Karki told AFP.

Nuwakot district officer Ram Krishna Adhikari, said five dead bodies have
been retrieved from the accident site.

"Police have already reached the site and the rescue operation is going on,"
he said.
 
Nepal's air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people
between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.

But it has been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and
maintenance, issues compounded by mountainous Nepal's treacherous geography.

The Himalayan republic has some of the world's most remote and tricky
runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge
even for accomplished pilots.
 
The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over
safety concerns.

Wednesday's incident comes two weeks after a plane crash in Kathmandu killed
all 18 aboard except the pilot.

Nepal's last major incident involving a commercial flight was in January
2023, when a Yeti Airlines service crashed while landing at Pokhara, killing
all 72 aboard.

That was Nepal's deadliest since 1992, when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan
International Airlines plane were killed when it crashed on approach to
Kathmandu airport.

A Thai Airways aircraft crashed near the same airport earlier that year,
killing 113 people.