Flights & Access
In May 2005 a French test pilot set his skids on the roof of the world for 3 minutes and 50 seconds; twenty-one years later, the record still stands.
By Laxman Rawal · Jul 18, 2026
At 07:08 on the morning of 14 May 2005, a small helicopter did something most people in aviation considered impossible: it set its skids down on the summit of Mount Everest, 8,848 metres above sea level. The pilot, a French former fighter pilot named Didier…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Delsalle was a test pilot for Eurocopter, and his machine was, remarkably, an almost standard AS350 B3 "Squirrel" — the same type that flies rescue missions in Nepal to this day. His team stripped about 120 kg from it, including the passenger seats, to extend…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Delsalle's flight was an empty, stripped aircraft flown by a factory test pilot in a rare weather window. Day-to-day Himalayan flying happens much lower — but it has its own records. On 21 May 2013, Italian pilot Maurizio Folini, flying the same AS350 B3…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
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