Summit Helicopters (Nepal)

Summit Helicopters Pvt. Ltd.
IATA ICAO Callsign
— — —
Founded 1997
AOC # 017/2001[1]
Hubs Tribhuvan International Airport (Kathmandu)
Fleet size 4
Headquarters Sinamangal, Kathmandu
Key people Suman Pandey (CEO)[2]
Website www.summitheli.com/

Summit Helicopters Pvt. Ltd., formerly known as Fishtail Air Pvt. Ltd. is a helicopter airline based at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, operating chartered helicopter services. The company was established in 1997 under the Air Operators Certificate issued by the Government of Nepal. The Company also carries out Rescue Missions.[3][4] On 11 June 2018, the airline officially changed its name to Summit Helicopters.[5][6]

History

Fishtail Air's logo, used from 1997 until 2018

Summit Helicopters was founded under the name Fishtail Air in 1997 in Kathmandu, Nepal. It carries out domestic chartered helicopter flights throughout Nepal and also international chartered flights to Bhutan and India.[3] The airline often made headlines in local press after performing unusual yet successful rescue missions in the Himalayas.[7] In 2014, Fishtail Air signed a deal with Goma Air with the aim of enhancing Nepal's tourism. Both Airlines are led by Bikash JB Rana, for which a collaboration was eased.[8][9] Following Goma Air's name change to Summit Air[10], in 2018, the airline changed its name to Summit Helicopters to visualize the cooperation.[5] Seasonally, Fishtail Air operates one helicopter out of Simikot Airport, for which the airport serves as a seasonal hub of the airline. From Simikot, Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar are served.[11]

Fleet

The Summit Helicopters fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2018)[2]:

Summit Helicopters fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Eurocopter AS350 B3e 2 0 0 5 5 [12]
Eurocopter AS350 B3+ 1 0 0 5 5 [13]
Bell Jet Ranger 206 1 0 0 4 4 [14]
Total 4 0

Accidents and incidents

  • 12 November 2001 – A Eurocopter AS 350 of Fishtail Air crashed into Rara Lake carrying Princess Prekshya of Nepal. She and two other passengers as well as the pilot died in the crash.[15]
  • 7 November 2010 – A Eurocopter AS 350 of Fishtail Air crashed when it was on a rescue mission on the North ridge of Mount Amadablam at an elevation of 6,350 meters. A five-member investigation team was formed on 9 November 2010 and its started its investigation one day later. The final report stated that the main cause of the accident was the inability of pilots to notice and arrest the lateral drift of the chopper to its left due to lack of ground reference until the main rotors came into contact.[16]
  • 8 August 2016 – A Eurocopter AS 350 of Fishtail Air crashed in Nuwakot district enroute from Gorkha to Kathmandu killing all 7 people on board. The final report blamed pilot stress as the cause of the crash.[17][18]

References

  1. ↑ "Civil Aviation Report 2017" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Fishtail Air signs first Airbus Helicopters' HCare Smart Contract in Nepal". Aviation Nepal. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Helicopter Charter in Nepal". Fishtail Air. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  4. ↑ "Fishtail Air Pvt. Ltd". Fishtail Air. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  5. 1 2 Manandhar, Shivesh (11 June 2018). "Fishtail Air gets new official name 'Summit Helicopters'". Aviation Nepal. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "Announcement of Company Name Change". Summit Helicopters. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Fishtail Air & Air Zermatt carries out the highest longline rescue in history". Fishtail Air. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  8. ↑ "Fishtail Air and Goma Air collaborate on Nepal tourism". HeliHub.com. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "Fishtail Air and Goma Air coordinate to boost the Adventure Tourism of Nepal". Fishtail Air. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  10. ↑ ""Goma Air" officially changed name to "Summit Air"". Aviation Nepal. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "Fishtail Air moves AS350B3 to Simikot for summer season". HeliHub.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  12. ↑ "Eurocopter AS350 B3e". Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  13. ↑ "Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 B3+". Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  14. ↑ "Fishtail Air BELL - Jet Ranger 206B". Fishtail Air. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  15. ↑ Khatri, Rishi (16 November 2001). "The princess had asked the pilot to circle Rara for a better view..." The Nepali Times. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  16. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-12-11. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  17. ↑ "7 including newborn confirmed dead in Fishtail chopper crash". The Himalayan Times. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "Pilot stress blamed for Fishtail chopper crash". The Kathmandu Post. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
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