KATHMANDU, July 13 (Reuters) - Nepal's aviation regulator has banned helicopters from conducting "non-essential" flights, including those for sight-seeing, for two months after a deadly crash in the Everest region in which six people were killed.
Five Mexican tourists and the Nepali pilot of a small helicopter operated by the private Manang Air company were killed on Tuesday when their chopper crashed while returning from viewing Himalayan peaks, including Mount Everest.
“Non-essential flights like mountain flights, external load operations (sling flights) and showering of flowers by helicopters (will) be restricted till September,” the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said in a Twitter post late on Wednesday.
Nepal, which is in the midst of the annual June-September monsoon season, has formed an investigation committee to find out what caused Tuesday’s crash.
Nepal's worst air crash in 30 years killed 71 people in January, when a plane went down near the tourist city of Pokhara.
Persons:
Mount, CAAN, Everest, Gopal Sharma, Raju Gopalakrishnan
Organizations:
Manang Air, Mount Everest, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Thomson
Locations:
KATHMANDU, Everest, Nepal, Pokhara