AFP
Kathmandu
Bad weather likely caused a US helicopter to crash in Nepal while on an aid mission to help victims of April’s massive earthquake, killing 13 people, the United States Marine Corps said.
The UH-1Y Huey helicopter was delivering relief supplies and evacuating injured quake victims to Kathmandu when it went missing on May 12, the same day a deadly aftershock hit the Himalayan nation.
Six US Marines, two Nepalese soldiers and five villagers died in the accident, the Marine Corps said Friday in a press release summarising the results of their investigation into the crash.
After picking up injured civilians from northern Dolakha district, the crew decided to fly the most direct route to the capital, apparently to secure urgent medical aid, the
investigation found.
“The chosen course required a brief period over unfamiliar terrain with unstable meteorological conditions,” the Marine Corps 3rd Expeditionary Force, based on the Japanese island of Okinawa, said.
“It is believed that the aircraft... was enveloped by rapidly developing clouds or lifted into a cloud by rising air
currents,” it said.
“As they attempted to maneuver out of the weather conditions, they lost visual reference with the terrain and
impacted the ground.”