Missing U.S. Marine Helicopter Is Found in Nepal, Official Says
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Version 0 of 1. KATHMANDU, Nepal — The wreckage of a United States Marine helicopter was found on Friday on a high mountain pass in Nepal, where below-freezing temperatures, raging winds and thunderstorms had made it too dangerous even to recover the bodies. The search for the missing helicopter had gone on for nearly three days. The UH-1 Huey, carrying six Marines and two Nepali soldiers on a relief mission, lost radio communication on Tuesday after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake, the worst aftershock since the earthquake in April. Nepalese Army helicopters were the first to spot the remains of the Huey — at about 11,000 feet, and eight miles from the village of Charikot, which was hit hard by Tuesday’s quake. Visible in the ruins of the aircraft were at least three charred bodies, Nepal’s defense secretary, Ishwori Paudyal, said. “Because of the nature of the wreckage, it is unlikely that there are any survivors at this time,” Lt. Gen. John Wissler of the Marines said in a news conference on Friday in Kathmandu. He said the bodies had not yet been identified. In Washington, President Obama expressed condolences to the families of the six Marines and two Nepalis. The Marines, Mr. Obama said, “represent a truth that guides our work around the world: When our friends are in need, America helps.” Interviewed this week, pilots and service personnel engaged in the earthquake rescue operations said the missions in Nepal were among the most dangerous they had seen. One told of weaving through storm clouds with injured people from Sindhupalchowk, a district that suffered about a third of the 8,000 casualties from the first quake. Others spoke of racing back to their bases ahead of worsening weather in the afternoon, when the sky regularly turns black and the rain comes in sheets. “The terrain out there is the roughest in the world, and I’ve flown in Afghanistan,” Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy said in an interview, adding that the crew aboard the Huey had been searching an area that included “100 active landslides.” General Kennedy said that the aircraft was probably forced to higher altitudes by the rough winds in the area, which rise in the afternoon, typically making searching impossible after midday. A Nepalese Army commander, Brig. Gen. Sudheer Shrestha, said that villagers near Charikot had told the army after the accident on Tuesday that there had been a blast and an apparent crash some distance away. But even then, bad weather and difficult landing conditions made it impossible to reach the site. “It was all landslides,” General Shrestha said Thursday of the area that villagers described. “There were tremors even today.” The Marines said the accident would have no effect on the continuing relief effort in Nepal. Pilots working for commercial airlines in Nepal, some of the first search and rescue responders in the country, said that delivery of aid, especially building materials, is likely to go on for months. For the 14 commercial helicopters conducting search and rescue work — and now more often relief drops — the problems go beyond rough terrain and bad weather. Their helicopters are generally smaller and more nimble than military models — good for medical evacuations of trekkers or ferrying filmmakers to high ridges for panoramic shots, but not for the mass evacuations after the first quake. “We were overwhelmed,” said Siddarth Gurung, 40, a pilot for Simrik Airlines. “It is a big nightmare.” Ananda Thapa, 29, another pilot for Simrik Airlines, was deployed on Thursday to rescue police officers trapped in the village of Tatopani, close to the Tibetan border. As he pulled through the forested passes along the narrow river, he saw plumes of dust — signs of landslides descending the mountain — and knew those below did not have unlimited time. “We saw landslides: It was coming, slowly it was coming,” he said. After rescuing some of the stranded, he returned home to the tent that he shares with 20 other people, since his Kathmandu home was destroyed in the April earthquake. Mr. Gurung said he thought that the relief phase had barely started, and that they were in for a long haul for these kinds of flights. “It will be another six months,” he said. “In the beginning it’s just taking out casualties. Later on will be the rebuilding phase.” |