Five people died in a helicopter crash in Nepal on Wednesday, after a Eurocopter AS350 went down in a forest-covered mountain region.
The chopper, operated by Nepal-based Air Dynasty, had departed from Kathmandu international airport at 1:54 p.m. local time, and was en route to Syabrubesi, a tourism destination to the north of the capital. It lost contact with air traffic control just three minutes after takeoff, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
The bodies of four men and one woman were discovered in the wreckage, said Krishna Prasad Humagai, the government administrator for Nuwakot district. Recovery operations were underway by police and army teams, aided by two rescue helicopters, according to The Associated Press.
The crash victims were four Chinese nationals and a Nepali pilot. A crash investigation is underway.
Newsweek has reached out to Humagai via email for comment.
Wednesday's crash comes just two weeks after another aviation disaster in Nepal.
Eighteen people died when a passenger plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Kathmandu airport. The sole survivor of that crash, a pilot, has since been released from hospital.
The doomed Saurya Airlines flight, a Bombardier CRJ 200, was heading to Pokhara for maintenance and was carrying mainly mechanics and airline employees. A government investigation is currently underway.
The helicopter tragedy comes amid safety scrutiny following a rise in crashes across the U.S. and the world.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), helicopters crash at a higher rate than any other type of aircraft. The rate for helicopters is 9.84 per 100,000 hours, indicating a 35 percent higher risk of accident than airplanes. For general aircraft — such as cargo planes and private jets — that number is 7.28 crashes per 100,000 hours of flight time. Commercial aircraft have a far lower rate of crashes than both.
The most common factor in helicopter accidents is pilot error, often due to fatigue, extreme pressure, or handling complex equipment, as noted by aviation training provider Pilot Institute.
Helicopters are also inherently difficult to pilot and fly at lower altitudes and speeds than planes, exposing them more to challenges such as weather and obstacles. Still, many aviation experts argue that helicopters remain a relatively safe mode of transportation, especially compared to cars.
According to the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team, between 2019 and 2023 the fatal accident rate was 0.73 per 100,000 flight hours. While driving deaths are tabulated differently, the latest government statistics estimate 1.35 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles driven.
Helicopter safety statistics also do not take into account that many choppers are used for tasks that demand precise maneuvers in challenging environments, such as medical evacuations and firefighting.
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