Everest record Chopper - Mystery solved!
May 12, 2005 13: 36 EST
Early this morning,Jamie McGuinness had another chopper sighting on Everest’s North Side: “While seeing part of the team off for the trek to ABC, at 7:25 - 7:27 am Nepali time we saw a helicopter again trying to land on the summit. From BC, quite a distance away, we didn’t get a photo and were not able to see if it landed or not, although it was again close. It seemed to try to stay in Nepali airspace."
This was the second landing attempt by the chopper, the previous caught on video last Friday by the Everest Valencia expedition (check the video on today's newscast).
The Indian Airforce Everest expedition were suspects, as the IAF holds the previous record, reaching an altitude of 25,150 ft November 2 last year at Saserkangri near Leh. But, reported Jamie, "the Indian Air Force team here seems to have zero idea about the whole thing.”
So, who is it?
That's when an e-mail arrived from Associate Press writer Binaj Gurubacharya in Nepal - solving the mystery! Apparently, local reports said there is a team led by French pilot Delsesalle Didier trying to break the record for the highest landing by a helicopter.
The Eurocopter has a one month permit from the Nepalese government to try their feat. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said that the government had allowed the team to carry out the test fight, after thoroughly evaluating the technical aspects of the involved helicopter and expertise of the crew members.
Another mail, from BaseCampMD Luanne Freer added info from NepalNews:
"An 11-member team of pilots are in Lukla, Solukhumbu, to operate the flights at an altitude of 9,000 meters to 10,000 meters.
The ‘adventure’ will begin from Thursday, according to Thamserku Trekking Pvt Ltd, which is coordinating the flights. If successful, Eurocopter will set a world record."
Go France!
Image of an unrelated Eurocopter, courtesy of eurocopterusa.com
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