Two Airbus AS350 helicopters collided while attempting to land almost simultaneously at Pheriche in Nepal's Everest region on Tuesday morning, killing one passenger and injuring three other people.
Video of the accident shows the helicopters approaching the landing area from opposite directions. The Air Dynasty aircraft descends toward the helipad as the Fishtail Air helicopter approaches from the other side, with the collision occurring only a few feet above the ground.
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The aircraft were Fishtail Air AS350 B3+ 9N-AJR and Air Dynasty AS350 9N-AOD. The Fishtail helicopter was arriving from Gorakshep with two foreign passengers, while the Air Dynasty aircraft had departed Lukla on a cargo flight.
Indian citizen Vasanth Kumar Balaramudu, 47, who was aboard the Fishtail helicopter, was killed. The second passenger, New Zealand citizen Shailesh Krishna Patel, was injured, as were Fishtail pilot Rabindra Prajapati and Air Dynasty pilot Prajwal KC.
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The accident occurred at around 8:11 a.m. local time. Initial reports mentioned only one injured passenger, but local authorities later confirmed that both pilots were also injured.
Possible communication failure investigated
Pheriche is a Himalayan settlement at approximately 14,100 ft (4,300 m) above sea level in the Khumbu region. It lies on the route toward Everest Base Camp, rather than at the base camp itself.
Helicopters are extensively used in the region to carry tourists, supplies and rescue teams between settlements and climbing areas that have limited or no road access. Nepal's civil aviation authority currently lists 11 domestic helicopter operators, including Fishtail Air and Air Dynasty.
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The cause of Tuesday's collision has not been determined. Nepalese authorities have opened an investigation, while preliminary information cited by local media points to communication between the two crews as one of the issues being examined.
Pheriche is outside the radio coverage of the control tower at Lukla, according to Mukesh Dangol, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. He told the Kathmandu Post that a communication failure between the pilots was one preliminary possibility under consideration.
Nepal has a long history of helicopter accidents, many involving operations in mountainous terrain. CAAN records include numerous AS350 accidents over the past two decades, including previous accidents involving Fishtail Air aircraft in the Himalayas.
