Mount Everest Landing and Take-Off: Eurocopter Statement
Marignane, 07 June 2005
Further to the Civil Aviation Authorities of Nepal (CAAN) statement released from Katmandou on June 3rd, 2005, Eurocopter does confirm that its serial Ecureuil AS 350B3 did achieve the World Record performance of high altitude landing and take-off on Mount Everest (8850m) on May 14th and 15th, 2005 as per FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) standards.
Eurocopter regrets the misunderstanding with the CAAN.
Indeed the permission given by the CAAN to the Eurocopter team was very clear and did concern “Everest High Altitude Heli Flight Test”, including landings and take-offs” as per Eurocopter flight test programme given to CAAN in March 2005.
This Mount Everest landing and take-off feat has been performed under control of a FAI Official Observer and according to the FAI rules, i.e. “the touch down/take-off ensure that the rotorcraft maintains contact with the ground at least 2mn”.
This World Record is currently under validation.
As shown in the video on our Eurocopter website (www.eurocopter.com/everest) this was the case as the Ecureuil AS350B3 remained landed 3mn 50 on May 14th and over 4mn on the next day.
Eurocopter is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS. EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2004, EADS generated revenues of € 31.8 billion and employed a workforce of about 110,000. The EADS Group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the international leader in missile systems. EADS is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is the largest industrial partner for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.
For further information, please contact:
| Jean-Louis ESPES | Eurocopter |
Tel.: + 33 (0)4 42 85 95 55 Fax: + 33 (0)4 42 85 95 64 www.eurocopter.com mailto: jean-louis.espes@eurocopter.com |
| Christina GOTZHEIN | Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH |
Tel.: + 49 (0) 89 6000 64 88 Fax: + 49 (0) 89 6000 44 37 www.eurocopter.com mailto: christina.gotzhein@eurocopter.com |
| Eduardo CONSEJO | Eurocopter España S.A. |
Tel.: +34 91 511 04 70 Fax: +34 91 511 04 69 www.eurocopter.com mailto: eduardo.consejo@eurocopter.es |
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