Six people aboard a tourist helicopter in Nepal were killed when it crashed soon after take-off in the Everest region on Tuesday, the aviation authorities said.
The Manang Air flight was flying from near Lukla, the starting point for climbing expeditions to the world’s highest peak, to Kathmandu, carrying five members of the same Mexican family and a Nepali pilot.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal in a statement said the helicopter lost touch eight minutes after takeoff on Tuesday morning.
Two helicopters were deployed for search and rescue but could not land at the crash site because of the weather.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “expressed grief” over the incident, his office said on Twitter.
The passengers were a mother, father and three children on holiday in the Himalayas, Mexico’s embassy in New Delhi said, expressing its “heartfelt condolences” to their relatives.
Nepal has a booming private helicopter industry, flying tourists and goods to remote corners of the Himalayan nation where road access is limited or non-existent.
Multiple helicopter accidents claimed more than a dozen lives during rescue and relief operations in the aftermath of Nepal’s devastating 2015 earthquake.
Plane crashes are also common in the Himalayan republic, home to remote and tricky runways flanked by snow-capped peaks that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.
The weather can change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions, and Nepal’s woeful safety record has been exacerbated by insufficient training and maintenance.
In 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines plane crash-landed near Kathmandu’s notoriously difficult international airport, killing 51 people and seriously injuring 20.
In 1992, in Nepal’s deadliest air accident, all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane died when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu airport.
The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.
