2015 Charikot helicopter crash
United States Marine Corps Bell UH-1Y Venom · Visual flight into IMC
From Dolakha District, Nepal to Kathmandu, Nepal
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 13 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 13
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Bell UH-1Y Venom
- Aircraft type
- Bell UH-1
- Category
- Helicopter · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 168792 SE-08
- Operator
- United States Marine Corps
- Onboard fatalities
- 13
- Route
- From Dolakha District, NepalTo Kathmandu, Nepal
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 12 May 2015, a US Marine Corps Bell UH-1Y Venom of Camp Pendleton-based HMLA-469 squadron crashed in the Charikot region of Nepal during Operation Sahayogi Haat, a humanitarian relief effort following the earthquake that had struck the region earlier. All 13 occupants were killed.
Accident
The following is a statement from PACOM: "On 12 May, at approximately 10 p.m. JST, a UH-1Y Huey with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 in support of Joint Task Force 505 was declared missing while supporting Operation Sahayogi Haat."
Nepal's army, struggling with the aftermath of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit on 25 April, had deployed about 400 troops into rocky, forested terrain after the US helicopter was reported missing.
A news release from III Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Okinawa, Japan stated that the chosen route, which may have been made because one or more of the injured was in need of urgent treatment, took the UH-1Y Huey helicopter for a brief period over unfamiliar terrain in unstable weather. The helicopter crashed in rugged terrain about 8 miles north of Charikot on a mission to evacuate casualties caused by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The helicopter crash was attributed to the crew's decision to fly the most direct route to Kathmandu. The chosen course required a brief period over unfamiliar terrain with unstable meteorological conditions and was necessary "due to a real or perceived urgency" concerning the condition of the injured civilians.
It was reported that the aircraft "was enveloped by rapidly developing clouds or lifted into a cloud by rising air currents. As they attempted to maneuver out of the weather conditions, they lost visual reference with the terrain and impacted the ground."
Text from the Wikipedia article “2015 Charikot helicopter crash” (revision 1343643157, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2015 Charikot helicopter crash
- Revision
- 1343643157 · 2026-03-15 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q48789976
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2015 Charikot helicopter crash" (page 55487927, revision 1343643157)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.