Nepal forms probe panel over helicopter crash

Nepal on Tuesday formed a government panel to launch investigation into Monday's fatal crash of a Fishtail Air helicopter in Nuwakot district of Central Nepal in which seven people including a baby were killed.

The four-member panel formed by the government is headed by former director general of aviation department Haribhakta Shrestha.

The panel is tasked to submit an investigation report within three months regarding the incident, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a press statement on Tuesday.

The helicopter crashed in Chuchebhir area of Nuwakot district, some 45 kilometer northwest of capital, when it was bringing a patient to the capital from Gorkha district of western Nepal on Monday afternoon.

There has been a large number of helicopter accidents in the Himalayan nation in recent years.

Since 1979, there has been 31 helicopter accidents with 70 casualties, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.

Monday's helicopter crash was the eighth accident of Fishtail Air since November 2001. The Fishtail Air's helicopter crashed in Langtang region of Rasuwa district in March 2016. Enditem