A helicopter crashed while landing on a helipad in the settlement of Lobuche, near Everest Base Camp, amid a snowstorm on October 29. It was one of several that were evacuating foreign tourists from Nepal’s Khumbu region due to severe rain and snowstorms.
It’s the latest in a string of ongoing emergencies atop the world’s tallest mountain.
Law enforcement officials stated that the helicopter lost traction while attempting to land at 7:43 A.M. local time, skidding in snowdrifts and overturning on the helipad. The only occupant at the time of the crash was the pilot—identified by The Kathmandu Post as Vivek Khadka—who escaped unharmed.
A video of the crash was shared on YouTube by AccuWeather, a global weather company.
The crash occurred amid severe weather caused by Tropical Cyclone Montha, which made landfall on the southeastern coast of India on October 28, bringing heavy snowfall to the high-elevation regions around Mount Everest and severe rainfall to lower elevations. Meteorologists anticipate further severe rains and snow today and into the weekend. In response, officials on both the Nepalese and Chinese-Tibetan sides of Everest have closed their respective regions to tourists. They are also recommending that travelers postpone any plans to trek other high-elevation circuits, such as Manaslu, Annapurna, and Dhaulagiri.
Over the past few days, several high-profile evacuations have occurred in the Nepalese Himalaya as a result of the snowstorms. Over 1,500 people, including approximately 200 foreign tourists, were rescued from the area around a high-elevation lake on Wednesday. Yesterday, a group of 72 trekkers was evacuated from Annapurna Base Camp.
The difficulty of these operations was highlighted again on October 31, when a trio of British and Irish tourists, along with a dozen Nepalese porters and guides, were rescued from Nepal’s Hidden Valley after spending three days stranded in subfreezing temperatures. Helicopters were unable to fly due to the weather conditions, so a rescue team had to trek in to evacuate them on foot.
“They were barely able to walk, but were really happy when they saw us,” Nepalese army officer Gaurab Dhoj Khand Thakuri said to GB News. Nepalese officials told the outlet that “avalanches, landslides and road blockages could continue to affect the area until at least Saturday.”
These latest storms are the second bout of heavy snowfall to hit the Everest area this month. Hundreds were rescued from around Everest in early October after another powerful storm dumped several feet of snow across the region.
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