Before leaving the ground at Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday, Air Dynasty's senior captain Arun Malla told the flight dispatcher, "I will be back soon from Safrubesi, don't be confused." But within three minutes of cutting the Shivpuri forest, the helicopter crashed at Suryachaur in Nuwakot and four Chinese citizens died on the spot.

According to the Tribhuvan International Airport office, Captain Malla, Chinese citizens Tang Jutao, Wu Yiao, Li Jie and Sei Ziming died in the accident. 

This was the third flight of 58-year-old Captain Malla, who has spent 6,330 hours in helicopter flying. At 10:39 in the morning, he flew to Lukla by taking Dynasty's 'Nine November-Alpha Juliet Delta' helicopter. From there he reached Feriche and brought 2 foreigners and came down to Kathmandu at 12 o'clock. 

'There was a rescue flight at Feriche,' Dynasty manager Balkrishna Pandit told Kantipur. For he was going there. Four Chinese nationals were also in this helicopter because it would be faster to return home by road than by ship. 

Photos : Angad Dhakal/Kantipur

According to information provided by the airlines, the charter flight belonged to Richa Tours of Maharajganj. When this helicopter was flown from Kathmandu, the Kathmandu Tower at the Kathmandu Airport gave 'take-off' permission. After flying a certain distance, the tower hands over the ship and helicopter to another 'approach tower'. The Air Traffic Controller (ATC) of Kathmandu Airport also contacted the 'Approach Tower' and directed Captain Malla to fly safely.

The helicopter that took off from Tribhuvan International Airport at 1:54 PM had its last communication with the Kathmandu Tower at 1:57 PM. According to airport spokesperson Subas Jha, Captain Malla had told the Kathmandu Tower that he would be crossing 9,000 feet above sea level to reach Syafrubesi. But he had not taken the helicopter to a height of 9,000 feet.  According to

spokesperson Jha, three minutes after take-off, he was told to contact the 'approach tower'. Captain Mall did not speak after 1:57 p.m. After the helicopter lost contact with the tower, the ATC requested the aircraft flying in the skies around Kathmandu to be called by the 'Alpha Juliet Delta' helicopter VHF. The flying pilot identified Captain Mall and his helicopter call sign. But, no answer came. 

According to aviation rules, 30 minutes (uncertainty) should be considered as a period of 'uncertainty' in case of loss of contact with a flying aircraft. However, less than 30 minutes later, the news of an accident at Suryachaur in Shivpuri Rural Municipality of Nuwakot was received from the locals at the airport. 

While the army in the park, armed police in Kakani, Nepal Police and local authorities reached the scene and rescued the body, the search helicopter from Kathmandu could not reach the scene due to bad weather. The rescue coordination center (RCC) which is active at the airport after every air accident, including the ministry of home, defense, tourism and the airline company, sent Prabhu's Bithree helicopter there, while another helicopter of Dynasty was kept on 'stand-by' at Nalinchok. 

The accident site was seen at a distance of about 11 km from Kathmandu Airport. Air Dynasty's V-2 tracking device, which tracks the flying helicopter from Kathmandu, has seen this helicopter flying up to a height of 5500 meters. "We were confident in the flight of Captain Mall, who has been in flight for 13 years," said the manager Pandit, "This was an unexpected accident for us." 

According to him, the visibility of Kathmandu was clear (at least 5 km) before Captain Mall took off on Wednesday. On the other hand, the weather was clear in Syafrubesi in Rasuwa. The helicopter flying from Kathmandu reaches Syafrubesi via Kakani from Suryachaur using the Trishuli River of Nuwakot as a base. One-way helicopter flight time on this route is around 20 minutes.

However, within 3 minutes of flying from Kathmandu, the helicopter has reached about 11 km and has had an accident. "If there was a situation to face a sudden cloud, then the helicopter was in the distance to return, we are surprised how such a waste happened," said Pandit, the manager. 

Captain Mall of Magdi was in Air Dynasty for 13 years. He is one of the oldest pilots. Malla has 2 daughters and a wife. Dynasty, which has been in charter flights for 30 years, has four helicopters. Dynasty now has three helicopters left after Wednesday's crash.