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US helicopter missing in Nepal with 8 aboard: military

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US helicopter missing in Nepal with 8 aboard: military
By AFP
Published: May 12, 2015
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This May 3, 2015 US Marine Corps handout photo shows Marine V-22 Ospreys flying into Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. PHOTO: AFP

KATHMANDU: A US Marine Corps helicopter carrying out earthquake relief in Nepal was reported missing on Tuesday with eight personnel on board, officials said.

“The incident occurred near Charikot, Nepal while the aircraft was conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations,” said Major Dave Eastburn, spokesman for US Pacific Command.

On February 16, 2014, Nepal Airlines plane carrying 18 people that went missing in the country’s mountainous west.

Read: Missing Nepal passenger plane found, no survivors

The plane with 15 passengers and three crew on board lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after taking off from the popular tourist town of Pokhara, airline officials and police said.

A total of 18 people were on board, the 14 adult passengers, plus one infant and three crew members, none of whom survived, an airline spokesperson said.

The incident had raised concerns about the Himalayan nation’s aviation sector, which has come under fire from international authorities after a series of fatal accidents.

Read: No survivors: Missing Mozambique plane wreck found

Nepal, which counts tourism as a major contributor to its economy, has suffered a number of air crashes in recent years, which have usually been attributed to inexperienced pilots, poor management and maintenance.

In September 2012, 19 people, including seven Britons and four Chinese, were killed after a plane crashed minutes after taking off from Kathmandu, in an accident which the government blamed on a “panic-stricken” pilot.
 
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Nepal earthquake: Wreck of missing US helicopter found - BBC News

The wreckage of a US military helicopter that disappeared this week while delivering aid near the Chinese border in Nepal has been found.

Six US marines and two Nepali soldiers were on board. There is "no chance" of survivors, Nepali officials say.

Tuesday's 7-3-magnitude quake killed at least 110 people.

It came as Nepal was reeling from the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake of 25 April which killed more than 8,000 people and injured many more.

The editor of the Nepal Times, Kunda Dixit, said the helicopter wreckage was found 56km (35 miles) from Kathmandu.

Mr Dixit said the helicopter was found on a mountain near the village of Kalinchok, at an elevation of 3,383m (11,100 feet).

Ground troops are now being deployed to search the wreckage.

The helicopter went missing in the hours after the second quake.

Although the cause of the crash is not yet known, a nearby Indian helicopter heard radio chatter about a possible fuel problem, said Steve Warren, a US Army colonel.

The marines had been working in the vicinity of Charikot, a village that has been hit hard, a spokesman for the US Pacific Command said.

The helicopter had been flying from Kathmandu airport as part of the US Operation Sahayogi Haat, which means "helping hand" in Nepali.

More than a dozen US military aircraft have been deployed to help carry out deliveries to areas cut off by the earthquakes.

Two Nepalese army helicopters were deployed in the search for the missing UH-1Y Huey helicopter, as well as 400 troops on the ground.
 
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