A helicopter crash in Nepal has claimed the lives of seven people, including the country’s Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari, reports Adventure Blog.
The private Air Dynasty helicopter was flying the Minister to Terathum from the eastern district of Taplejung after visiting the site of a new airport. Local residents who witnessed the crash alerted emergency services, who arrived quickly, but unfortunately all aboard had perished on impact.
Reports indicate that the weather was good during the flight and shouldn’t have contributed to the crash and it is too early to speculate much beyond that. Although mechanical failure seems the most likely cause, an investigation is underway.
Nepal has an extremely poor record for aviation safety and this is just the latest in the deadly crashes that have taken place there over the past year or so. Last September another helicopter went down, claiming the lives of the six people onboard and in March of 2018 a plane crash killed 51 people as well. The country has made it a priority to improve air safety nationwide, but so far those efforts have been marginal at best.
