2001 Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 crash
Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil · Crashed shortly after takeoff
From Gamgadhi Army Base, Nepal to Surkhet, 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
- 4 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 2
- 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
- 2
- 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
- Airline
Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil
- Aircraft type
- Eurocopter AS350
- 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
- 9N-AFP
- Operator
- Fishtail Air
- Onboard fatalities
- 4
- Route
- From Gamgadhi Army Base, NepalTo Surkhet, Nepal
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The 2001 Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 crash occurred on 12 November 2001, when a chartered Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 helicopter crashed on a flight from Gamgadhi Army Base to Surkhet in Western Nepal. The accident killed all 6 passengers and crew on board, including Princess Prekshya Shah of Nepal.
Incident
The helicopter took off at 11:25 NPT on 12 November 2001 from Gamgadhi Army Base. Shortly afterwards, the helicopter plunged into Rara Lake. Two passengers were flung out of the aircraft mid air. According to the Nepali Times, the Princess asked the pilot to "circle over Rara so she could get a better view of the lake when the craft dropped down into the lake while turning".
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Personnel from a nearby army base took 45 minutes to reach the crash site. Rescue helicopters were deployed and the Princess's body was recovered from the water. At first, authorities assumed that there was only one survivor, however, two passengers could be saved and were flown into hospitals in the Nepalgunj.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2001 Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 crash” (revision 1351572164, 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: 2001 Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 crash
- Revision
- 1351572164 · 2026-04-28 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q56277430
- 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 "2001 Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 crash" (page 58118425, revision 1351572164)
- 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 is an airline according to Wikidata
- 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.