Senior Captain Arun Malla of Air Dynasty Heli Services, a private helicopter service provider company, died in a helicopter crash on Wednesday (August 7).
Captain Arun had defeated death twice before while flying a helicopter.
Earlier, the then Maoist rebels shot at the helicopter of Karnali Air flown by Captain Arun at Jumla-Kalikot range.
Captain Malla’s third crash turns fatal
The gun fired by the then Maoist rebels hit the helicopter, flown by Malla, however, he managed a safe landing. That was the first time Malla survived a death.
After that in 2013, the Air Dynasty helicopter that Arun Malla had flown from Kathmandu to Lukla collided with the fence of the Lukla airport and met with an accident.
The helicopter that was carrying three passengers was damaged but all were safe. Malla survived for the second time in that accident.
But on Wednesday’s (August 7) helicopter crash, unlike earlier times, the death prevailed against Malla.
Malla, who is known as a ‘cool captain’ in the helicopter flight service, died after a helicopter he was flying crashed at Shivpuri rural municipality-7 Suryachaur in Nuwakot. The helicopter was to Syafrubesi, Rasuwa from Kathmandu. Along with him, four Chinese passengers also lost their lives.
Remembering Captain Arun Malla
“Captain Malla was a very cool person, I never saw him angry,” said Yograj Kandel, General Secretary of the Helicopter Society of Nepal and a long-time friend of Malla. “He used to work without any stress, Malla was loyal to his work.”
Kandel adds it’s a moment of sadness that we lost such a nice human being and a good pilot.
Malla, 58, a native of Pulchowk, Lalitpur, completed his pilot training in Russia. After completing the training, he returned to Nepal, joined Karnali Air, owned by Captain Narayan Singh Pun, and started his career as a helicopter pilot.
This was about 30 years ago. Malla, who was improving his flying skills by working under the command of Pun, joined the Air Dynasty after the closure of Karnali Air,” says Kandel. “After that, he was constantly flying helicopters. In my assumption, Arun Malla had flown the helicopter for 15,000 to 16,000 hours.”
According to Kandel, Malla used to follow aviation rules strictly. He was always admired for his courteous behaviour towards fellow pilots, company employees and regulatory authorities.
“We among friends say that the pilot should be like Malla,” says Kandel. The aviation sector has lost one of the most experienced and skilled pilots.”
Fog seals fate
A captain who worked with Malla for a long time speculated how the crash occurred.
Captain Malla had flown a helicopter at least a thousand times on the Syabrubesi route from Kathmandu,” says the captain. “However, the sudden deterioration of the weather disturbed him.”
According to him, within three minutes, the Air Dynasty helicopter that took off from the Tribhuvan International Airport at 1:54 pm lost contact with the Air Traffic Control (ATC).
“As he reached Shivapuri Rural Municipality while crossing Syabrubesi, the helicopter was suddenly caught in the fog. Malla could not process anything, which resulted in an accident,” says the captain.
Helicopters are flown according to Visual Flight Rules (VFR). This means that the pilot must have a clear view of the ground and the sky from the cockpit of the helicopter.
However, Captain Arun could not see anything when there was a sudden fog on the same route, which led to an unavoidable accident, the captain says.
Captain Arun has a wife and two daughters.
Goodbye! Captain Arun Malla
