Three dead when a plane crashes and two helicopters near Everest

Nepal A twin-engine aircraft deviated as it took off on the tiny runway of Lukla Airport, the gateway to the Everest region, and struck two helicopters. There were three dead and three wounded, the Nepalese authorities said. Also known as the Tenzing Hillary Airport, in honor of the first mountaineers to climb the highest peak in the world, Lukla is one of the world's most challenging aerodromes for take-offs and landings.

The co-pilot of the plane Let-410 of the company Summit Air, which was to go to Kathmandu, and a policeman on the ground were killed in the accident, told AFP Ema Nath Adhikari, head of the airport. Another policeman died at the hospital in the Nepalese capital, a police spokesman said. "The plane was diverted to the heliport when it took off and hit two helicopters, the wounded were evacuated to Kathmandu," Adhikari added. "We are not sure of the causes of the accident." Every year, thousands of mountaineers and mountaineers go to Mount Everest. The activity is more intense in April, when the season of mountaineering begins.

Lukla does not have a radar system. Pilots have to fly between snow-capped peaks and cope with a whimsical climate to reach a 500-meter long trail at the summit of a summit and ending in a chasm. In October 2008, the 18 pbadengers of a plane died in an accident. Only the pilot survived. Air transport has been strongly developed in recent years in Nepal, where road links are limited.

18 deaths occurred in a similar accident in 2008.

in the absence of serious training of pilots and good maintenance of aircraft, there are often air tragedies in the country. The European Union banned its airspace to all Nepalese companies.

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