As operations to support communities devastated by severe flooding and landslides in Nepal transition from the rescue to relief phase, helicopters are continuing to play a critical role. Recent events have revealed a need for lessons to be learned about how rotorcraft are deployed in emergencies, as well as ongoing opportunities for the international aviation community to contribute to the country’s recovery needs, according to Abhinav Karki, former CEO of local operator Mustang Helicopter, who is now advising Nepal’s government on aviation reforms.
Nepal’s private helicopter operators have been supporting rescue and relief efforts alongside the Nepali Army. According to Karki, the experience so far has highlighted the importance of effective coordination among the various agencies involved in emergency aviation operations.
Air traffic control infrastructure is absent in the remote mountainous areas where flash floods have cost more than 1,000 lives, with several thousand more people still missing. “Pilots have been flying in very difficult terrain that has required a lot of coordination to fly VFR,” Karki told AIN.
Karki, a former Airbus executive, said that international aviation companies could still do more to support the relief and recovery efforts by providing equipment and expertise. He pointed to the need for more drones to be deployed for search and surveillance roles, and also for satellite imagery capability that would provide more sophisticated weather information around which missions could be planned.
More Help Needed
“The first phase [immediately following the floods] was always going to be chaos, and having more drones to find people would have helped,” he said. “For the second phase, we could definitely use more helicopters, and especially those with emergency medical support capability.”
There are 51 airfields across Nepal’s Himalayan terrain, but most of these do not have even basic air traffic control service. When helicopters are deployed from the capital Kathmandu, they generally rely on local navigation aids. Operations have been managed by the civilian Rescue Coordination Centre and the Military Command Centre.
Nepal’s government is pressing for consolidation among helicopter operators in a bid to make them more capable. By 2029, each operator is expected to have at least five aircraft, and this will likely result in some mergers.
According to Karki, there is a need for local fleets to include more advanced, twin-engine helicopters. He also appealed for recognition of the vital role of rotorcraft in public service, rather than as purely a luxury lifestyle product. In Nepal, army helicopters are used to serve remote communities, such as by ferrying pregnant women to the hospital.
In his view, the disaster in Nepal and the neighboring Tibet region of China has exposed the need for more effective international training and planning for disaster relief. “What we need is worldwide disaster management because we need expertise and better plans when we are fighting the impact of climate change,” Karki concluded. “Whether it is fighting fires in California or floods in Nepal, it is the same challenge.”
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