Captain Priya Adhikari, Nepal’s first lady helicopter captain, has emerged as one of many key figures within the nation’s large rescue operation after devastating floods and landslides alongside the Nepal-Tibet border.
Adhikari has flown over 100 rescue missions in seven days, serving to evacuate survivors from among the worst-hit areas, together with Timure in Nepal’s Rasuwa district. The high-altitude rescue pilot has been working in extraordinarily troublesome terrain, the place thick mud, unstable floor and slender valleys have made helicopter landings notably harmful.
Nepal Military makes use of a helicopter for a rescue operation within the flood-hit hydropower tunnel space at Syabrubesi’s Chilime, in Rasuwa on Tuesday. (ANI Video Seize)
Talking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Adhikari described the relentless rescue effort and the stress of working alongside dozens of different helicopters in a confined space.
Priya Adhikari is Nepal’s first feminine helicopter captain and he or she’s flown over 100 rescue missions within the wake of the devastating flood. Anderson speaks along with her about what she’s witnessed. pic.twitter.com/3YYXHZA60J
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) September 1, 2026
“Most of us are so exhausted due to all of the flights we have been doing. We have been skilled for this,” she stated.
Who’s Priya Adhikari?
Priya Adhikari is a veteran high-altitude helicopter pilot who specialises in search-and-rescue missions within the Himalayas. Her work has included rescuing injured climbers at excessive elevations, with some missions taking her to round 6,200 metres.
Her journey into aviation was unconventional. Adhikari studied environmental science and initially labored as a member of cabin crew. A helicopter joyride sparked her curiosity in flying, finally prompting her to journey to the Philippines for helicopter coaching.
After finishing the required flying hours, she turned a full-time helicopter pilot in 2017 and went on to specialize in high-altitude rescue operations.
Her rise in what was historically a male-dominated area finally noticed her change into Nepal’s first lady helicopter captain.
100 rescue missions amid Nepal floods
Adhikari’s expertise has now been put to a unprecedented check following catastrophic floods and landslides in Nepal’s Himalayan area.
Timure, in Rasuwa district close to the Nepal-Tibet border, has been among the many worst-affected areas. Round 20 helicopters have been concerned in rescue operations within the space, with pilots having to speak consistently to coordinate landings and evacuations.
Adhikari stated 5 or 6 helicopters generally need to land on the similar location to evacuate survivors.
“The pilots should consistently coordinate over the radio, generally with 5 or 6 helicopters touchdown on the similar spot to evacuate survivors,” she stated.
The terrain presents one other main problem. Floodwaters and landslides have left thick layers of mud throughout elements of the affected areas. What could look like strong floor from the air will be unstable sufficient for a helicopter to sink.
Adhikari stated pilots generally can’t safely shut down their helicopters after touchdown and as an alternative need to preserve the plane powered whereas survivors are introduced aboard.
‘All the things is gone’: What Priya Adhikari noticed from the air
The devastation under has been as troublesome because the flying circumstances.
Adhikari recalled seeing our bodies scattered throughout Timure after the flash floods. Greater than 200 survivors have been evacuated from the realm in the course of the first two days of the operation, with a number of helicopters, together with Nepal Military Augusta plane, collaborating within the rescue effort.
“All the things is gone. 5 hydropower tasks are gone, lives are gone,” she stated.
Regardless of the destruction, the sight of survivors ready for rescue has stored her going.
“Each time I’m going and land, I see folks round and waving at them,” Adhikari stated. “I say, you survived.”
She additionally acknowledged the emotional toll of witnessing each survivors and people who didn’t make it out. Though the folks she rescues are strangers, Adhikari stated the scenes stay deeply affecting.
The dimensions of the catastrophe, she stated, has examined even her years of high-altitude rescue expertise and was harder in some respects than what she witnessed in the course of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.
‘We’ve been skilled for this’
After almost 100 missions in six days, exhaustion has inevitably set in. But Adhikari continues to fly as rescue groups race towards time to succeed in folks stranded by the floods and landslides.
For Nepal’s first lady helicopter captain, years of coaching within the Himalayas have ready her for harmful missions. However the unprecedented scale of the present catastrophe has pushed these expertise to their limits.
Nonetheless, her message stays easy: the pilots know what they need to do.
“We’ve been skilled for this,” Adhikari stated.
