Nepal has a beautiful landscape and there is no doubt about that. However, if we look at the history of Nepal and its mountainous topography, the country has had to witness some of the deadliest air crashes. In the most recent crash, five Mexican tourists and a Nepali pilot of a small helicopter were killed this week when their chopper crashed while returning from viewing Himalayan peaks.
Nepal’s aviation regulator has now banned helicopters from taking “non-essential” flight trips, including the ones that are scheduled for sightseeing. The country has also formed an investigation team to find out what led to the helicopter crash that happened on Tuesday.
The rugged terrain and unforeseeable weather conditions in Nepal also led to many such incidents in the past. According to a Reuters report, before Tuesday’s crash, 350 people had been killed in Nepal in 18 air crashes since 2000. Here we take a look at some of the shocking plane crashes in the country that made headlines:
January 2023:
Not long before Tuesday’s crash, Nepal witnessed a deadly one in January this year. A twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft carrying 72 people, operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, crashed in Pokhara, killing all onboard. It was the worst air crash in the country since 1992 when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when it ploughed into a hill as it tried to land in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu.
May 2023:
Last year a Tata Airplane which had 22 passengers on board, including three crew members, crashed in Mustang district of Nepal. Nepal authorities’ report had claimed that the crash might have occurred due to bad weather conditions. All the passengers were killed and all bodies were recovered.
February 2019:
A helicopter crashed in bad weather in eastern Nepal, killing all seven people on board, including the tourism minister. The crash made headlines, also because one of the persons who died was Nepal’s Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari.
March 2018:
Fifty-one of 71 people on a Bangladeshi airliner operated by US-Bangla Airlines died when it crashed in cloudy weather as it came in to land at the Nepalese capital’s hill-ringed airport. It was a Bombardier Q400 series aircraft.
February 2016
On Feb 24, 2016, a small plane crashed killing all 23 people on board. The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Tara Air, was on a flight from Pokhara. Shortly after on Feb 26, 2016, two people were feared dead after a small plane crashed in western Nepal’s Kalikot district. It was operated by Kasthamandap Airlines.
February 2014:
Around 18 people on board a small plane were killed when the plane crashed in bad weather. The Twin Otter aircraft was operated by state-run Nepal Airlines Corp.
August 2010:
Fourteen people – including four Americans, a Japanese and British national – were killed when their plane crashed in bad weather in Nepal. Another incident took place in December when
a small plane crashed in the Himalayan foothills of remote east Nepal, killing all 22 people onboard.
June 2006:
Yeti Airlines operated a twin Otter passenger plane crashed minutes before landing, killing all nine people onboard.
August 2002:
Another Twin Otter plane, which was operated by Shangrila Air, crashed into a mountain in bad weather in Nepal and killed all 18 people on board.
July 2000:
25 people on board a Canadian-built Twin Otter passenger plane were killed when the plane crashed in western Nepal. It was operated by state-owned Royal Nepal Airlines.
(With Reuters Inputs)