This story keeps running, with official claims they have and equally official claims that they haven't. Anyone know the real story?
No chopper landing on Mt Everest
Posted on 07 August 2005 - 15:25
The Nepalese Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has confirmed that a Eurocopter did not land on top of Everest in mid May of this year.
Following press that a helicopter had skidded down on the world’s highest mountain, the Ministry ordered the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to implement an investigation into whether a French made helicopter, the AS 350B3 landed on top of Mount Everest.
International news on May 14 of 2005 had reported in Europe that the machine had touched down on the peak.
On May 24 the French aviation company organized a press conference in Paris, announcing that its helicopter had landed atop the highest mountain in the world.
According to the Nepalese Ministry, the company had applied at the Royal Nepalese Embassy in Paris to gain permission for conducting test flights of its aircraft in high altitude. This was approved but did not include permission to land on top of Everest.
Later the Solu District Administration Office informed the central Nepalese authorities that the chopper, in course of its test flights, had landed on top of Mount Everest.
In the recent investigation, helicopter pilot Didier Delsalle noted that the chopper had not landed on Mount Everest. He stated that it was not possible to land on the difficult terrain of the high Himalayas.