In a scene of pure high-altitude horror captured on video, two helicopters slammed into each other while attempting to land at the remote Pheriche helipad in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district on Tuesday morning, leaving an Indian tourist dead and three others injured amid a cloud of swirling snow and dust.
The dramatic footage, which has circulated widely online, shows the breathtaking yet perilous setting: a vast, windswept snowfield ringed by towering Himalayan peaks under a brilliant blue sky. A group of trekkers and support staff in colourful outdoor gear stand clustered on the right side of the frame beside piles of equipment. One helicopter, a blue-and-white machine, is already low over the snow or touching down. Moments later, a second, red-and-dark-coloured aircraft descends rapidly toward the same small landing area. The rotors of the two choppers strike each other with devastating force. A violent plume of snow and debris erupts as the red helicopter tips and crashes hard into the ground while the other aircraft is also thrown off balance. In the aftermath, both machines sit damaged on the snow, rotors still or askew, as people nearby run or freeze in shock.
Nepal Police and local officials confirmed that the collision occurred at around 8:11 a.m. local time at the helipad in Ward 4 of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality. The aircraft belonged to Fishtail Air and Air Dynasty. The Fishtail helicopter was carrying passengers; the Air Dynasty machine was reportedly on a cargo flight.
The victim has been identified as 47-year-old Vasanth Kumar Balaramaramadu (also reported as Vasantkumar Balaramudu), from Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. He was a passenger aboard the Fishtail Air helicopter and died at the scene. His body was later flown to Lukla. Also injured were a 49-year-old New Zealand citizen of Indian origin, Shailesh Krishna Patel (spellings vary slightly in reports as Selishkumar or Saliskishan Patel), who was on the same aircraft, and both pilots: Rabindra Prajapati of Fishtail Air and Prajwal (or Prajal) KC of Air Dynasty. The injured were airlifted by a Prabhu Air helicopter to hospitals in Kathmandu and Lukla for treatment.
Pheriche sits at roughly 4,200 metres (about 13,780 feet) on the popular trekking route toward Everest Base Camp. With no roads in the Khumbu region, helicopters are a lifeline for tourists, climbers and supplies, but the thin air, unpredictable winds and limited landing spots make operations extremely demanding. Autumn is peak trekking season, drawing thousands to the area. Officials have noted that snow covering part of the helipad may have forced both aircraft to manoeuvre into the same space, though the precise cause remains under investigation by Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority.
The incident is the latest in a long string of aviation accidents in Nepal, a country whose rugged terrain and variable weather have contributed to a poor safety record over the years. Both helicopters suffered substantial damage; one registration linked in reports is Air Dynasty’s 9N-AOD. Early accounts describe the event as Nepal’s first mid-air helicopter collision of this type.
Witnesses and the video itself paint a picture of sudden chaos in an otherwise serene high-mountain setting. Trekkers who had been standing calmly only moments earlier found themselves metres from spinning rotors and falling aircraft. Rescue teams reached the site quickly, and no fire was reported after the impact. As investigators examine flight data, pilot communications and the physical evidence left on the snow, questions are already being raised about coordination at one of the world’s most iconic and unforgiving adventure destinations.
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