Two helicopters collide below Mount Everest base camp in Nepal, killing one tourist and injuring two others
Two helicopters collided while trying to land at Pheriche, below Mount Everest base camp, killing a 47-year-old Indian tourist and injuring a New Zealand passenger and a Nepali pilot, officials said.
Two helicopters collided on Tuesday while trying to land just below Mount Everest's base camp in Nepal, killing at least one person and injuring two others, officials said, in an accident that struck at the height of the Himalayan trekking season.
The aircraft were ferrying trekkers in the Everest region when they came together at Pheriche, a village at about 4,200 metres (13,780 feet) above sea level that serves as a stopping point on the trail towards base camp. According to the Associated Press, a 47-year-old tourist from India was killed in the crash, while a passenger from New Zealand was injured and was being taken to Kathmandu for treatment, and a Nepali pilot was treated locally.
Reuters, citing the chief district officer of Solukhumbu district, Kaman Singh Thapa Magar, reported that an Indian national was killed and a New Zealander injured after the two helicopters collided as they prepared to land in the base camp area on Tuesday. The New Zealander had been rescued, the official told Reuters, although the precise condition of the injured was not immediately detailed in the early reports.
The helicopters were operated by two private firms, Fishtail Air and Dynasty Air, also referred to as Air Dynasty. Fishtail Air said in a statement that its helicopter was carrying passengers who had been rescued from the Everest region when it crashed while landing, and that the Indian and New Zealand passengers on board were tourists, according to a company official cited by Reuters.
Pheriche sits in a narrow, high valley where helicopters are a routine part of life during the trekking season, ferrying hikers, supplies and people needing evacuation between remote settlements and larger towns. The crash therefore happened in one of the busiest periods of the year, when clear mornings can see a rapid succession of arrivals and departures at small helipads with little margin for error.
Early reports differed slightly on the number of people injured, with the Associated Press reporting two injured in addition to the death, while Reuters initially reported one injured person rescued. The number of people on board the two helicopters in total was not immediately clear, and officials did not immediately publish a full passenger list, which is common in the first hours after a mountain accident while next of kin are informed.
High-altitude flying in the Everest region is demanding even in good weather. The air is thin, which reduces lift and engine performance, landing sites are small and often surrounded by steep terrain, and weather can change quickly through the morning. None of that establishes the cause of this collision, and investigators will need to establish the sequence of approaches, the communications between the crews and any ground coordination at the helipad before drawing conclusions.
Nepal's mountain aviation system depends heavily on helicopters precisely because many settlements have no road access, and the same aircraft that carry tourists also perform rescues for trekkers suffering altitude sickness or injury. That dual role means an accident involving a rescue flight, as Fishtail Air described its aircraft, touches both the tourism industry and the emergency network that remote communities rely on.
Authorities have launched an investigation into what led to the collision, and officials in Solukhumbu district confirmed the death and injuries to news agencies on Tuesday. The investigation is expected to examine flight records, the condition of the aircraft, the timing of the two approaches and the weather at Pheriche, although no timeline for its findings has been announced.
For now, the confirmed core of the story is narrow but stark: two helicopters collided while attempting to land at Pheriche, one tourist was killed and others were injured, and the cause remains under investigation. Further details, including the identities of all those involved and any findings from the inquiry, are expected to emerge as officials complete their checks and families are notified.
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