Meet Captain Priya Adhikari: Nepal's first female helicopter pilot who flew 100 rescue missions in six days
PTC News Desk: As flash floods and landslides continue to cause widespread destruction in Nepal, one helicopter pilot has been working almost non-stop to rescue survivors and recover bodies from some of the worst-affected areas.
Priya Adhikari, Nepal's first female helicopter captain, has carried out around 100 rescue flights in less than a week. The 41-year-old high-altitude rescue pilot has been operating in the Himalayan region, including the badly affected Timure area of Rasuwa district.
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Adhikari described the rescue operation as one of the most difficult missions of her career. She said the situation was even more challenging than the 2015 Nepal earthquake because most of the destruction was concentrated in a narrow valley.
Who is Priya Adhikari ?
Adhikari is an experienced helicopter pilot who specialises in high-altitude rescue operations in the Himalayas. Over the years, she has rescued injured climbers from extremely high locations, with some of her flights reaching altitudes of around 6,200 metres.
Her journey into aviation was not planned from the beginning. She studied environmental science and initially worked as a cabin crew member. Her interest in flying began after she took a helicopter joyride.
She later travelled to the Philippines to receive helicopter training. After completing the required flying hours, she became a full-time helicopter pilot in 2017 and eventually specialised in high-altitude rescue missions.
Flying into Nepal's flood-hit areas
The rescue operation in Timure has involved around 20 helicopters. Several helicopters often have to operate in the same small area at the same time.
Adhikari said five or six helicopters sometimes need to land almost together to evacuate people. Pilots constantly communicate with each other over the radio to coordinate their movements, prevent accidents and make sure they do not all fly to the same location.
The damaged terrain has created another serious challenge. Flash floods and landslides have covered large areas with thick and unstable mud. From the air, the ground may look firm, but pilots cannot always know whether it is strong enough for a helicopter to land safely.
In some places, the ground is so unstable that pilots cannot switch off the helicopter's engine after landing. They have to keep the engine running while survivors are brought on board and evacuated.
Adhikari said the destruction she has seen from the air has been extremely difficult to witness. During flights over Timure, she saw bodies scattered across areas devastated by the floods, while survivors waited for helicopters to reach them.
Despite the large-scale rescue operation, some people she encountered have stayed in her thoughts. She recalled trying to find the parents of Radhika, an American-Indian woman whose family was caught in the disaster.
She also searched for two Nepalese men — one linked to the Isha Foundation and another who worked at a bank in Timure.
- With inputs from agencies
