However, the pilot and passengers, who had a narrow escape, are safe now.
The pilot had to land the helicopter at Samdo village in Samagaun VDC after he faced difficulty tracking the destination. The pilot then landed the chopper at a narrow place between the mountains.
The chopper had caught fire when it was preparing for takeoff from the Samdo village, according to passengers on board the chopper. Had the pilot tracked the destination, he would not have force- landed, according to passengers.
Although pilot Surendra Paudel and four passengers on board the chopper are safe, the helicopter and the passengers' belongings were destroyed, according to Simrik Air office based at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
The helicopter was supposed to land at Samagaun VDC, where the helipad was bigger. Many helicopters flying to the VDCs in the northern part of Gorkha district land at Samagaun VDC.
The helicopter lost control and caught fire after its tail was reportedly hit by a stone. Immediately after the chopper caught fire, pilot Paudel and four passengers jumped out of it.
Narayan Prasad Acharya, chief of District Drinking Water and Sanitation Division (DDWSD), three officers from the International Medical Corps (IMC) were on board the helicopter. The chopper chartered by IMC had flown from Kathmandu to Samagaun VDC. However, it had landed at the district headquarters to pick division chief and sanitation materials from there.
The helicopter had flown for Samagaun at around 10:15 am and it had crashed in Samdo village.
Simrik Air chopper crash: One dies, all four injured airlifted...
"At the time of take-off, we saw smoke coming from the helicopter all of a sudden. Then we jumped out of it," said division chief Acharya. "The pilot sustained minor injuries to his leg but all of us are safe."
It is learned that the helicopter has been reduced to ashes.
A helicopter of Manang Air rescued the four passengers and the Simrik Air pilot from the crash site. After dropping division chief Acharya at the district headquarters, the remaining four passengers were flown to Kathmandu.
Samagaun VDC is 52 miles from the district headquarters.
Following the April 25 earthquake, IMC has been implementing health and sanitation projects in seven remote VDCs of Gorkha district, including Samagaun VDC.
(Photos: Narahari Sapkota)
