Fishtail Air

Fishtail Air Pvt. Ltd., from 2018 to 2020 known as Summit Helicopters 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 carries domestic chartered helicopter flights throughout Nepal out and Rescue Missions.[3][4] It also carries out and also international chartered flights to Bhutan and India.[3]

Fishtail Air Pvt. Ltd.
IATA ICAO Callsign
— — —
Founded1997
AOC #017/2001[1]
HubsTribhuvan International Airport (Kathmandu)
Fleet size4
HeadquartersSinamangal, Kathmandu
Key peopleSuman Pandey (CEO)[2]
Websitewww.fishtailair.com/

History

The Airline was founded under the name Fishtail Air in 1997 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The airline often made headlines in local press after performing unusual yet successful rescue missions in the Himalayas.[5]

Due to the Nepalese Civil War, Fishtail Air did not operate between 2003 and 2007.[6]

In 2010, Fishtail Air was part of a documentary by Swiss Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, titled The mountain rescuers in the Himalayas wherein the Swiss Airline Air Zermatt and Fishtail Air were establishing a mountaineering rescue station in Lukla.[7][8][9] At the same time, mountaineer Simone Moro started working as a pilot for Fishtail Air.[10]

In 2014, Fishtail Air signed a deal with Goma Air with the aim of enhancing Nepal's tourism. Both Airlines were at the time led by Bikash JB Rana, for which a collaboration was eased.[11][12] Following Goma Air's name change to Summit Air,[13] in 2018, Fishtail Air changed its name to Summit Helicopters to visualize the cooperation on 11 June 2018.[14][15] On 15 January 2020, the original name Fishtail Air was restored.[16]

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.[17]

Fleet

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

Fishtail Air fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Eurocopter AS350 B3e 2 0 0 5 5 [18]
Eurocopter AS350 B3+ 1 0 0 5 5 [19]
Bell Jet Ranger 206 1 0 0 4 4 [20]
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.[21]
  • 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.[22] The accident was covered by the Swiss documentary The mountain rescuers in the Himalayas.
  • 19 June 2013 – A Eurocopter AS 350 of Fishtail Air crashed in Humla district en route from Simikot to Hilsa killing one person on board.[10]
  • 8 August 2016 – A Eurocopter AS 350 of Fishtail Air crashed in Nuwakot district en route from Gorkha to Kathmandu killing all 7 people on board. The final report blamed pilot stress as the cause of the crash.[23][24]

References
  1. "Civil Aviation Report 2017" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  2. "Fishtail Air signs first Airbus Helicopters' HCare Smart Contract in Nepal". Aviation Nepal. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  3. "Helicopter Charter in Nepal". Fishtail Air. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  4. "Fishtail Air Pvt. Ltd". Fishtail Air. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  5. "Fishtail Air & Air Zermatt carries out the highest longline rescue in history". Fishtail Air. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  6. Thakuri, Dikshya (6 January 2007). "Fishtail all set to fly again". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  7. "Bergretter im Himalaya - Wenn der Mensch über sich hinauswächst" (in German). SRF. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  8. "The mountain rescuers in the Himalayas – DVD". Air Zermatt. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  9. "Swiss National Television follows Helicopter Rescue in the Himalayas". Fishtail Air. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  10. dAngella, Valentina (19 June 2013). "Himalaya, si schianta l'elicottero di Simone Moro: un morto e 5 feriti" (in Italian). Montagna. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  11. "Fishtail Air and Goma Air collaborate on Nepal tourism". HeliHub.com. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  12. "Fishtail Air and Goma Air coordinate to boost the Adventure Tourism of Nepal". Fishtail Air. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  13. ""Goma Air" officially changed name to "Summit Air"". Aviation Nepal. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  14. Manandhar, Shivesh (11 June 2018). "Fishtail Air gets new official name 'Summit Helicopters'". Aviation Nepal. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  15. "Announcement of Company Name Change". Summit Helicopters. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  16. "Announcement of Company Name Change". Fishtail Air. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  17. "Fishtail Air moves AS350B3 to Simikot for summer season". HeliHub.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  18. "Eurocopter AS350 B3e". Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  19. "Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 B3+". Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  20. "Fishtail Air BELL - Jet Ranger 206B". Fishtail Air. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  21. 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.
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-12-11. Retrieved 2014-06-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. "7 including newborn confirmed dead in Fishtail chopper crash". The Himalayan Times. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  24. "Pilot stress blamed for Fishtail chopper crash". The Kathmandu Post. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2018.


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