KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 14A Manang Air helicopter (registration 9N-ANJ) crash-landed at Lobuche in the Everest region this morning.

The helicopter had left for Lobuche to pick up a few foreign trekkers but met with the accident while landing. CAAN suspends Manang Air's AOC; Captain Sedhai's condition critical Captain injured as Manang air crashes at Lobuche The settlement of Lobuche is located at 4,940 metres above sea level and is the second-last stop point for most trekkers going to the Sagarmatha base camp.The helicopter's Senior Captain, Prakash Kumar Sedhai, sustained severe injuries in the incident and was airlifted to HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu for immediate treatment by Fishtail Air. "His condition was very critical as he suffered 65 per cent burn injuries and also fractured his spinal cord,"HAMS sources said.A few hours after the incident, Manang Air's Corporate Safety Manager Raju Neupane, in a conversation with THT, shared that preparations were being made to airlift Sedhai to Mumbai for further treatment."After receiving the green light from the hospital, wehave decided to airlift Sedhai to India for burn treatment.His condition has become stable for now and health staff say that he did not face any internal injuries and his organs are fine," he said.Captain Sedhai was taken to National Burn Centre in Mumbai, India in a Shree Airlines air ambulance late in the evening for further treatment.According to Gyanendra Bhul, the spokesperson for Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), flight 9N-ANJ was stationed at Lukla Airport last night and left for Lobuche with some essential cargo and to pick up some tourists."As per reports, the Manang Air flight left from Lukla at 7:13am and was expected to arrive at Lobuche at 7:25am.During the time of the landing procedure at 7:24am, the helicopter met with an abnormal contact after which the pilot jumped out of the hovering aircraft and was injured in the process.

The aircraft crashed and was engulfed in flames.Some suggest that there werestrong winds during the time of landing but further details will be released after an internal investigation is carried out by CAAN," Bhul informed THT.Following the incident, CAAN suspended Manang Air's air operator certificate (AOC).

This decision was taken in the light of two aviation accidents involving Manang Air in the past three months.Bhul explained, "Over the past year, four of Manang Air helicopters have met with accidents, of which two have occurred just in the past three months."According to him, two accidents of the same airline company within three months despite various steps taken by CAAN to mitigate such incidents and enhance air safety is unacceptable and is being taken seriously by the authority.A safety technical team will leave for the crash site tomorrow to investigate the incident.

The helicopter is also said to be damaged beyond repair."We are concerned about recurrence of such incidents despite various precautionary steps put in place," he said.Bhul further said the authority had decided to suspend the AOC of Manang Air as the airline company had been left without any aircraft, and also for CAAN to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the company."An internal committee has been formed which will look into the incident and submit a report to the director general of the authority.

We will also take the pilot's statement after he is able to give it.

Instead of pointing fingers, CAAN will hold comprehensive discussions to resolve any kind of shortcomings found in the aviation industry."In today's incident, Pilot Sedhai was the sole occupant of the helicopter when it crashed near the Lobuche helipad.On 11 July 2023, a Manang Air helicopter 9N-AMV (ASSO), went missing at 10:13am, and was found in a crashed state near Lamjura in Ward No 5 of Solukhumbu district, all six individuals on board, including the pilot were killed.Similarly, Simrik Air, Heli Everest, Air Dynasty helicopters have met with accidents this year, taking the total number of helicopter crashes to five so far this year.A version of this article appears in the print on October 15, 2023, of The Himalayan Times .

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