Didier Delsalle

Didier Delsalle (* 1957 ) is a French pilot . He was the first person to land on Mount Everest in a helicopter .

Record company

The Frenchman Delsalle set his standard, single-engine helicopter 14 May 2005 at Eurocopter 350 B3 Ecureuil / AStar AS in 8848 meters above sea level on Mount Everest in the Himalayas - Kingdom of Nepal on. He first flew to the Lukla airfield at 2,866 m, which was the first starting point for helicopter flights to the Everest region, and then to the summit. In accordance with the requirements of the International Air Sports Association , he stayed on the ground for more than two minutes before returning to the base camp, thus setting the record in the highest take-off category, which is valid until today (2018) . Then he returned to the Nepalese Himalayan airfield Lukla. The following day he successfully repeated the flight.

Delsalle's action met with sharp criticism from many people around the world, such as the South Tyrolean extreme mountaineer Hans Kammerlander . However, the local authorities benefited from the action: In the preparatory phase, the men from Eurocopter also flew rescue missions in Nepal.

Web links

• Pictures and video of the helicopter landing

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helicopter height record: Will there soon be a lift to Everest? , Spiegel Online, May 26, 2005
2. ↑ FAI Record ID # 11596 on Records.fai.org ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)