2006 Shree Air Mil Mi-8 crash

On 23 September 2006, a Shree Air Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashed on a chartered flight from Phungling to Ghunsa in Eastern Nepal. The accident killed all 24 passengers and crew on board, including an expedition of World Wide Fund for Nature, in the process of the creation of the indigenously owned and managed Kangchenjunga Conservation Area.^[1][2]

Shree Air Mil Mi-8 Crash

A Mil Mi-8 helicopter, similar to the one involved in the accident
Accident
Date	23 September 2006
Summary	Pilot error along with poor airline training[1]
Site	Ghunsa, Nepal
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Mil Mi-8
Operator	Shree Air
Registration	9N-AHJ
Flight origin	Phungling, Nepal
Destination	Ghunsa, Nepal
Occupants	24
Passengers	20
Crew	4
Fatalities	24
Survivors	0

Aircraft

The helicopter involved with the accident was a Mil Mi-8 MTV 1.

Crew and victims

On board the helicopter was an expedition of World Wide Fund for Nature returning from an conservation event in Taplejung District, where the Government of Nepal handed the management of the park around Kanchenjunga to the local people. The WWF team included Chandra Gurung and Harka Gurung. Other passengers on board the ill-fated helicopter included politician Gopal Rai.^[3][4]

Casualties by nationality

Country	Deaths (Crew)	Deaths (Passengers)
Nepal	2	14
Russia	2	0
UK	0	1
USA	0	2
Canada	0	1
Australia	0	1
Finland	0	1
Total	4	20

Casualties

Source:^[5]

• Dr. Bigyan Acharya, Program Development Specialist USAID, Nepal
• Margaret Alexander, Deputy Director, USAID, Nepal
• Hem Raj Bhandari, Reporter, Nepal Television
• Dr. Chandra Prasad Gurung, Country Representative, WWF Nepal
• Dr. Harka Gurung, Advisor, WWF Nepal
• Jennifer Headley, Coordinator, Himalaya/South Asia Program
• Klim Kim, Flight Crew
• Yeshi Choden Lama, Senior Program Officer, WWF Nepal
• Tirtha Man Maskey, Former Director General, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation
• Pauli Mustonen, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of Finland, Nepal
• Dr. Damodar Parajuli, Acting Secretary, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation
• Matthew Preece, Program Officer, Eastern Himalayas Program, WWF US (Recently hired by USAID)^[2]
• Narayan Poudel, Director General, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation
• The Honorable Gopal Rai Minister of State, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, and his wife, Meena Rai
• Sharad Rai, Director General, Department of Forests
• Dr. Jillian Bowling Schlaepfer, Director of Conservation, WWF UK
• Mingma Sherpa, Flight Crew
• Mingma Norbu Sherpa, Managing Director, Eastern Himalayas Program, WWF US
• Vijaya Shrestha, Central Committee Member, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Sunil Singh, Cameraman, Nepal Television
• Valery Slafronov, Flight Crew
• Guruwar Tandul, Flight Crew
• Dr. Dawa Tshering, Chairperson, Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council

Incident

The helicopter took off at 10:45 NPT on 23 September 2006. Shortly afterwards, the helicopter was declared missing. Two days later, the wreckage of the helicopter was found south-west of Ghunsa.^[6] Bad weather was assumed to have caused the crash at the beginning.^[7]

Investigation

The final report on the accident the committee of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal stated that the pilots entering cloudy areas in unfamiliar terrain as well as bad crew resource management were the main causes of the accident. It furthermore criticized the operating airline, Shree Air, on their training proceedings.^[1]

Aftermath

The memorial to the victims in Taplejung.

A day of mourning was observed throughout Nepal and schools and public offices were closed on 27 September 2006.^[7]