Two AS350 helicopters collided on Tuesday morning as both tried to land on the same helipad at Pheriche, in Solukhumbu district, in Nepal's Everest region in the east of the country. An Indian tourist was killed and other people were injured. By the Nepali authorities' assessment, it is the first mid-air helicopter collision recorded in the country.
The collision
The crash happened at around 8.12am local time, at about 4,371 metres, according to The Kathmandu Post. Both aircraft were trying to land at the same spot:
- 9N-AOD, an AS350 operated by Air Dynasty Heli Service, on a cargo flight out of Lukla airport;
- 9N-AJR, an AS350 operated by Fishtail Air, which had taken off from Gorakshep with two foreign nationals on board.
The rotor blades of the Air Dynasty helicopter struck the windows of the Fishtail Air passenger compartment when both were 2 to 3 metres above the ground, the Kathmandu Post reported. Irish broadcaster RTÉ described the same mechanics: the blades of the two helicopters struck each other during the final approach.
A video circulating on social media shows, according to the Kathmandu Post, the Fishtail Air helicopter descending rapidly despite warnings from ground staff.
Casualties
The man killed was Vasanth Kumar Balaramudu, an Indian national travelling aboard the Fishtail Air helicopter. Local police told RTÉ he was 47.
Also hurt were Shailesh Krishna Patel, a New Zealander of Indian origin who was in the same aircraft, and Rabindra Pradhan, the Fishtail Air pilot-in-command. Both were airlifted to the Nepal Mediciti hospital in Kathmandu. RTÉ reported that both pilots involved suffered minor injuries and were also taken to the capital. Authorities have not yet established how many people were on board the two aircraft.
What the authorities say
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is taking the statement of the injured pilot. Its director general, Mukesh Dangol, told the Kathmandu Post that "preliminary reports suggest miscommunication between the pilots", and noted that the area falls outside the coverage of Lukla's air traffic control. The exact cause, the agency says, has not yet been determined.
A contested air corridor
Pheriche is a compulsory stop for anyone trekking up to Everest base camp, and helicopter traffic in the region has long been a tug of war between operators, authorities and local communities. Restrictions on sightseeing flights over Sagarmatha National Park, which covers the Everest area, were due to take effect on 1 January 2026, but the dispute remains unresolved.
What the collision exposes is less the altitude than the gap in control: at a helipad with no tower, coordination between two aircraft arriving at the same time rests on radio between pilots and on ground staff — exactly the point CAAN is now investigating.
With information from The Kathmandu Post and RTÉ.
