2006 Shree Air Mil Mi-8 crash

Helicopter accident in Nepal Shree Air Mil Mi-8 Crash Accident File:Baltic_Airlines_Mil_Mi-8_Aladyshkin.jpg A Mil Mi-8 helicopter, similar to the one involved in the accident 23 September 2006 Pilot error along with poor airline training Ghunsa, Nepal Mil Mi-8 Shree Air 9N-AHJ Phungling, Nepal Ghunsa, Nepal 24 20 4 24 0 On 23 September 2006, a Shree Air Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashed on a chartered flight from Phungling to Ghunsa in Eastern Nepal. The accident killed all 24 passengers and crew on board, including an expedition of World Wide Fund for Nature, in the process of the creation of the indigenously owned and managed Kangchenjunga Conservation Area.Final Report of Accident Investigation of Helicopter 9N-AHJ http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/helicopter_crash_report.pdf Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal 1 June 2018Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information Bureau of Public Affairs 2006-11-30 Eulogy at Memorial Service for Victims of Helicopter Crash in Nepal https://2001-2009.state.gov/f/releases/remarks2006/78283.htm 2025-04-26 2001-2009.state.gov en Aircraft The helicopter involved in the accident was a Mil Mi-8 MTV 1. Crew and victims On board the helicopter was an expedition of World Wide Fund for Nature returning from a conservation event in Taplejung District, where the Government of Nepal handed the management of the park around Kanchenjunga to the local people. The WWF team included Chandra Gurung and Harka Gurung. Other passengers on board the ill-fated helicopter included politician Gopal Rai.A conservation catastrophe for Nepal https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5379598.stm BBC 1 June 2018 25 September 2006Helicopter Carrying 7 WWF Staff Crashes in Nepal http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/DocServer/FOCUS_NovDec06.pdf?docID=282 WWF 1 June 2018 6 December 2006 + Casualties by nationality Country Deaths (Crew) Deaths (Passengers) Nepal 2 14 Russia 2 0 UK 0 1 USA 0 2 Canada 0 1 Australia 0 1 Finland 0 1Total 4 20 Casualties Source:Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information Bureau of Public Affairs 2006-11-30 Eulogy for Victims of Helicopter Crash in Nepal https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/f/78708.htm 2025-04-26 2001-2009.state.gov en Dr. Bigyan Acharya, Program Development Specialist USAID, Nepal Margaret Alexander, Deputy Director, USAID, Nepal Hem Raj Bhandari, Reporter, Nepal Television Dr. Chandra Prasad Gurung, Country Representative, WWF Nepal Dr. Harka Gurung, Advisor, WWF Nepal Jennifer Headley, Coordinator, Himalaya/South Asia Program Klim Kim, Flight Crew Yeshi Choden Lama, Senior Program Officer, WWF Nepal Tirtha Man Maskey, Former Director General, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Pauli Mustonen, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of Finland, Nepal Dr. Damodar Parajuli, Acting Secretary, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Matthew Preece, Program Officer, Eastern Himalayas Program, WWF US (Recently hired by USAID) Narayan Poudel, Director General, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation The Honorable Gopal Rai Minister of State, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, and his wife, Meena Rai Sharad Rai, Director General, Department of Forests Dr. Jillian Bowling Schlaepfer, Director of Conservation, WWF UK Mingma Sherpa, Flight Crew Mingma Norbu Sherpa, Managing Director, Eastern Himalayas Program, WWF US Vijaya Shrestha, Central Committee Member, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sunil Singh, Cameraman, Nepal Television Valery Slafronov, Flight Crew Guruwar Tandul, Flight Crew Dr. Dawa Tshering, Chairperson, Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council Incident The helicopter took off at 10:45 NPT on 23 September 2006. Shortly afterwards, the helicopter was declared missing. Two days later, the wreckage of the helicopter was found south-west of Ghunsa.Tragic Helicopter Crash in Nepal http://www.wwfnepal.org/?81560/Tragic-Helicopter-Crash-in-Nepal-continual-updates WWF Nepal 1 June 2018 Bad weather was assumed to have caused the crash at the beginning.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5383952.stm BBC 1 June 2018 Teams recover Nepal crash bodies 27 September 2006 Investigation The final report on the accident the committee of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal stated that the pilots entering cloudy areas in unfamiliar terrain as well as bad crew resource management were the main causes of the accident. It furthermore criticized the operating airline, Shree Air, on its training procedures. Aftermath thumb|The memorial to the victims in Taplejung. A day of mourning was observed throughout Nepal and schools and public offices were closed on 27 September 2006. References Nepal Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2006 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Nepal Category:Aviation accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Category:2006 in Nepal Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Mil Mi-8 Category:2006 disasters in Nepal Category:September 2006 in Asia