Five Mexican tourists, pilot killed in helicopter crash in Nepal: What went wrong!
Experts blame violation of the Visual Flying Rules (VFR) for most of the
chopper crashes in the mountains as the leading cause. VFR means fly only
visually - because of the lack of navigation aids in remote areas or unreliability
of GPS-like aids in hilly terrains or a remote manipulation of instruments
in cases of sabotage - as the topography plays havoc especially in the monsoon
(mid-June to September).
Even when VFR is followed, most crashes occur due to CFIT (Controlled Flight
into Terrain) - that is, everything else is OK but the aircraft collides with
hills or trees hidden by the clouds. This also occurs mostly in the monsoon.
On Tueday with Manang, the chopper was brand new, pilot was highly experienced.
But it hit an 'invisible' tree and then crashed against a hillside. This
CFIT occurred when the pilot tried to dodge patches of clouds even as he was
following the VFR.
Simply put, everyone knows flying in the hills during the monsoon is risky,
but the companies want to make more money in any which case. This type of
tragedy is very frequently invited in the Indian hill State of Uttarakhand
as well, where pilots are even made to fly without the mandatory rest.
KATHMANDU, July 12: All five Mexican tourists and the pilot aboard an Airbus
H125 helicopter of Manang Air were killed on Tuesday when the chopper crashed
minutes after takeoff from the foothills of the Everest for Kathmandu in poor
weather conditions. All the bodies have been recovered.
The pilot was a Nepali. The Mexicans were two men and three women of same family
(father, mother, son and two daughters). One of them was a doctor, Dr (Ms) Abril
Sifuentes González, at Mexico's National Cancer Institute. The family was on
a tour of Nepal after a round of some of India's tourist destinations, it is
reported.
After the helicopter tour of the Everest, the tallest peak in the world at
8,848.86 metres, lasting one hour, they were returning to Kathmandu. They had
booked the helicopter tour at the most unsuitable time - the monsoon. Flights
are risky in the treacherous weather. Climbers also do not venture, it is slippery.
The chopper took off from Lukla, the famous base point for Everest climbing
expeditions, and landed at Surke nearby for refueling. (Surke is an alternative
landing site for helicopters in poor weather, 6 minutes flying time below Lukla
airfield). From Surke the helicopter took off at 10:05 am (local time). At 10:13
it lost contact with Lukla airport, according to a statement issued by the Civil
Aviation Authority of Nepal.
It took five hours for rescuers to locate the site. It is believed the chopper
hit a hillside in poor visibility. It was raining even when the rescuers reached
there. The wreckage was found in Likhupike Rural Municipality of Solukhumbu
district. Local people said it crashed with a loud explosion and they saw a
huge fire at the site.
The dead have been identified as 1. CAPT. C.B. Gurung (Pilot) Nepali 2. Sifuentes
G. Ferrando - Mexican 3. Gonzalez Abric - Mexican 4. Gonzalez Olacio Luz - Mexican
5. Sifuentes G. Maria Jose - Mexican 6. Rincon Ismael Mexican.
It is said in Nepal that flight route changes are common because of frequent
variations in weather conditions around the Everest. So did the Mexicans' chopper.
Especially, it rains heavily during this time of the year in the Indian plains
and the Himalayas due to the south-west monsoon. Visibility can suddenly turn
very poor due to unpredictable weather conditions. Mid-June onwards is always
a monster season for tourism in the hills. And flying in Nepal is visual, without
aids available in remote and inaccessible mountainous terrain. Also it is advised
like that.
It was officially stated that Manang Air helicopter 9N-AMV (AS350) which went
missing in the morning at 10:13 local time was found crashed in Likhupike, in
Solukhumbu district, Ward No. 5, near Lampura Pass.
Two rescue helicopters brought the bodies to Kathmandu. They are expected to
be handed over to the Mexican embassy after autopsy.
The helicopter, now named Airbus Helicopters H125, was manufactured in France.
Acquired in 2018.
The crash has been described technically as "controlled flight
into terrain (CFIT)", which means that the aircraft was airworthy and under
control of the pilot, but hits the ground and the pilot is unaware until it
is too late. “The helicopter initially hit the top of a tree and then hit the
sloppy ridge with a huge impact between two passes in a dense forest,” Manang
Air was quoted in reports. But the CFIT happened as the pilot would have tried
to dodge the cloud patches. The last contact was when it was over Lamjura Pass.
Air accidents are very common in Nepal, especially of choppers as the companies
undertake trips off-season to enhance their profits, ignoring the topography
and weather conditions. And, there is not much sightseeing possible without
choppers!
In January this year, a Yeti airlines plane crash killed 71 people in Pokhara.
On May 29, 2022, Tara Air Flight 197 crashed in Jomsom, killing all 22 people
on board.
There have been 941 fatalities in 73 air crashes in Nepal since 1962.
Five people were arrested from a banquet hall in Sector 51 Noida on Thursday
where they were called to hold a rave party in a trap laid by the animal
rights group, PFA. They named Yadav but he was not present.
Betting through Dubai-based Mahadev Book in India is conducted through a countrywide network. Probes reveal that the online gambling is worth several millions and top politicians, officials and celebs have been beneficiaries.
TAILPIECE: Polling dates for some States are round the corner. Top
politicians have begun their acrimonious debate who looted more, even as
Mahadev is washing their dirty laundry in the open ghat. Come what may,
one needs to seize power to amass "thy wretched pelf!" One simple
question is, why else one should spend lakhs or crores to get elected! A
question every Indian should ask to oneself at least once a day!
His inaction amounts to defeating the rights of the people of the State to
welfare measures sought to be implemented through the Bills, the Kerala
Government's petition submitted, while the State of Tamil Nadu remarked
that its "Governor is acting as a political rival."
Tailpiece: Coming up back to back, the petitions in their totality seem to question the provision of Raj Bhavan, and not motives of a Governor as a
person.
Hundreds of cars piled up behind the wreckage of crashes occurring one
after other in backing up - continuous crashes to the rhythm of metallic
clanks and bangs back to back. According to reports, some ops required
'Jaws of Life' to pull apart the mangled cars to save lives inside.
The pilots struggled with Emerson to thwart a shut-off as he reached for
the T-handles (see pix). Later he admitted to police he had taken
psychedelic mushrooms and had a "nervous breakdown."
Doctors reasoned how the incidence of heart attacks is spiking over time and
advise the simple way to play safely is to take a break and rehydrate
yourself.
But how come ten people, including children, die of cardiac arrest at
Garba in 24 hours, and that at different places of Gujarat? Garba had been going on
for six days, and every year it is celebrated.
Shocking news from the UK: Leading grocers have started bribing policemen with free food and drinks to persuade them to take action against shoplifters.
Shoplifting has risen by about 27 per cent in 10 major cities across the UK
this year. The cost of retail crime last year was $2.15 billion. Besides, “We
are seeing organised gangs threatening staff with weapons and emptying
stores," Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium,
said. Data shows that the police failed to respond to 73 per cent of serious
retail crimes that included assault and abuse of workers, apart from
shoplifting.
Harris said hip-hop is “the ultimate American art form” that “shapes every
aspect of American popular culture.” “Hip-hop culture is American
culture,” she said in a talk at her official residence at the US Naval
Observatory in Washington, D.C.
The social media had mixed reaction. There was much appreciation that
she dances better than any VP in American history. But some called her
"moves" as “cringe” while others did not like her pink pants - "pink pants
don’t look good.” In fact, her ensembles have always been incongruous.
"Let’s see how the (Governor's) Vice-Chancellors are given salary."
Mamata's extreme statements will put the Marxist Government in Kerala,
which is also facing similar issues, to shame. Has she begun the
countdown for a war on the streets?
It's true Mamata has come to see a conspiracy to demolish the established systems across the country, but lacks the ability to foresee what exactly is being pushed.
Brandishing a sword, Mahant Paramhans told reporters on Tuesday he
himself will behead MK Stalin's son for his remarks against Sanatan
Dharma in case nobody came forward to accept his offer he made in his
video. Udhayanidhi reacted to the saint's Monday video, "I will speak
more. I am the grandson of the artist who put his head on the rail track for
Tamil Nadu."
Somanath elaborated, "I am an explorer. I explore the Moon. I explore the inner
space. So it's a part of the journey of my life to explore both science and
spirituality. So I visit many temples and I read many scriptures. So try to find the
meaning of our existence and our journey in this cosmos. So it's a part of the
culture that we are all built to explore, find out the inner self as well as outer
self. So for the outer, I do science, for the inner I come to temples." (See videos)
Rao the mathematical legend had fathered the path-breaking Rao-Blackwell
theorem, one of the most important theorems in mathematical statistics, at the
age of 25. That brought him global fame. He is also famous for his Cramér-Rao
Bound inequality theorem relating to quality of estimators in statistics which has
had a profound bearing on applications of modern economics and several other
diverse fields. Simply put, with the pioneering statistician computation became a
tool to analyse even socio-economic challenges of modern times.
The alleged incident has received such a flash publicity that a standardised
city's hugely middle class population will have second thoughts about eating
outside for some time. Now everything on the table looks suspicious!
“All subjects directly connected to the people should be shifted to the State List. Particularly the subject of education. Only if this is done can cruel exams like NEET be abolished,” Stalin said. Education was moved from the State List to the Concurrent List with the 42nd Constitution Amendment made by the Central Government in 1976.
Decentralisation has been at the core of Tamil politics since the times of CN Annadurai. Stalin indicated there will be political changes in the offing.
TAILPIECE: While the Centre and the States are at loggerheads, it takes a
different cognitive acumen to know that entrance tests are not the way for
students' admission to courses.
As recently as Tuesday Craig Robertson had posted on Facebook: "Perhaps
Utah will become famous this week as the place a sniper took out Biden the
Marxist." Biden was scheduled to make his first visit to Utah as President
Wednesday afternoon.
Maruti is recalling 87,599 S-Presso and Eeco vehicles to inspect and possibly
replace parts in the steering system. All reputed companies around the
world do recall their products when a defect comes to light.
Meanwhile, a question arises why just in about a year so many accidents have
taken place involving Mercedes sent to India while the car has won safety awards
abroad? In most cases, the vehicle collided with divider, while manoeuvring a
turn. Was there a split second delay in the steering system coming to a grip
when at high speed? Did anybody in India bother to study a pattern in several
of these accidents that took place one after other?
Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry died when his Mercedes-Benz-SUV hit
a divider in Gujarat. Cricketer Rishabh Pant's Mercedes-Benz-SUV rammed a divider
in Uttarakhand and smashed. It went up in flames but he escaped with injuries.
Brother of PM Narendra Modi, Prahlad Modi's Mercedes-Benz-SUV met with a similar
accident in Mysuru. And many more.
Experts blame violation of the Visual Flying Rules (VFR) for most of the
chopper crashes in the mountains as the leading cause. VFR means fly only
visually - because of the lack of navigation aids in remote areas or unreliability
of GPS-like aids in hilly terrains or a remote manipulation of instruments
in cases of sabotage - as the topography plays havoc especially in the monsoon
(mid-June to September).
Even when VFR is followed, most crashes occur due to CFIT (Controlled Flight
into Terrain) - that is, everything else is OK but the aircraft collides with
hills or trees hidden by the clouds. This also occurs mostly in the monsoon.
On Tueday with Manang, the chopper was brand new, pilot was highly experienced.
But it hit an 'invisible' tree and then crashed against a hillside. This
CFIT occurred when the pilot tried to dodge patches of clouds even as he was
following the VFR.
Simply put, everyone knows flying in the hills during the monsoon is risky,
but the companies want to make more money in any which case. This type of
tragedy is very frequently invited in the Indian hill State of Uttarakhand
as well, where pilots are even made to fly without the mandatory rest.