US helicopter missing in Nepal with 8 aboard: military

KATHMANDU: A US Marine Corps helicopter carrying out earthquake relief in Nepal was reported missing on Tuesday with eight personnel on board, officials said.

"The incident occurred near Charikot, Nepal while the aircraft was conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations," said Major Dave Eastburn, spokesman for US Pacific Command.

On February 16, 2014, Nepal Airlines plane carrying 18 people that went missing in the country’s mountainous west.

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The plane with 15 passengers and three crew on board lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after taking off from the popular tourist town of Pokhara, airline officials and police said.

A total of 18 people were on board, the 14 adult passengers, plus one infant and three crew members, none of whom survived, an airline spokesperson said.

The incident had raised concerns about the Himalayan nation’s aviation sector, which has come under fire from international authorities after a series of fatal accidents.

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Nepal, which counts tourism as a major contributor to its economy, has suffered a number of air crashes in recent years, which have usually been attributed to inexperienced pilots, poor management and maintenance.

In September 2012, 19 people, including seven Britons and four Chinese, were killed after a plane crashed minutes after taking off from Kathmandu, in an accident which the government blamed on a “panic-stricken” pilot.