A helicopter with seven people on board crashed into a hillside in central Nepal on Saturday with the condition of the passengers unknown, officials said.
The Altitude Air helicopter which had gone missing since this morning crash-landed in the forest area bordering Dhading and Nuwakot districts, according to eyewitnesses.
The single-pilot Kathmandu-bound Altitude Air helicopter was carrying six passengers, including a Japanese trekker, when it lost contact with air traffic control after taking off from the central district of Gorkha.
The wreckage of the ill-fated chopper piloted by senior captain Nishchal K C with six passengers, including a Japanese trekker, has been spotted by locals in a remote location in Nuwakot district, said Nima Nuru Sherpa, Managing Director at Altitude Air Pvt Ltd.
“We are trying to reach the crash site by air and on foot. But the weather is hampering our rescue operations,” he told AFP.
Nepal has a booming private helicopter industry, flying tourists and goods to remote corners of the Himalayan nation where road access is limited or non-existent.
But the impoverished country has a poor air safety record due to poorly trained staff and lacklustre maintenance
In 2016, seven people were killed in a helicopter crash 22 kilometres (14 miles) north of the capital.
There were multiple helicopter accidents, claiming over a dozen lives, in the wake of a powerful 2015 earthquake when choppers were used to rescue the injured and deliver aid to communities cut off by the disaster.