26 Oct, 2018
Simrik Air Helicopter carried out immediate search & rescue mission starting 11th May 2018 till 16th May 2018 for Bulgarian National Boyan Petrov, a veteran climber who summited 10 peaks of more than 8000 m. altitude and was declared missing on the territory of Tibetan Autonomous Region, PR China. Owing to the fact that the operation can only be implemented by a Nepalese helicopter capable of flying to the higher altitude, Simrik Air deployed its helicopters on an immediate basis on a special request of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria. Simrik Air’s two Helicopters – AS350 B3e of call signs 9N – ALP and 9N – AJZ with 6 crew members along with necessary equipment, flew from Kathmandu towards Shishapangma Base Camp with the permission of Chinese Government, after completing all the necessary formalities of CAAN. Despite untiring search mission, we couldn’t find any sign of Boyan, but this search & rescue operation by helicopter crossing the border has remained a history in the Nepalese Aviation sector, as we received tremendous support and cooperation each time during this period from the Embassy of Bulgaria in New Delhi, India, Beijing, China and its counselor section in Nepal, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and Home Ministry of Nepal for necessary paper works and permits. And above all, the supportive messages from the Bulgarian people, international media and those concerned in Boyan’s search encouraged us to move ahead in this mission. The team effort of our pilots, rescue specialists, technician and entire crew members on the ground who gave their best to search the veteran climber Boyan is appreciated.
