A New Zealand helicopter pilot, best known for his work that helped save many lives in the aftermath of last April’s earthquake in Nepal has been honoured with this year’s Appareo Pilot of the Year Award.
He was felicitated at the recently-held Helicopter Association International’s Heli-Expo in Louisville in the United States. The New Zealander Jason Laing was working for Simrik Air when the 7.8-magnitude quake struck last year. A highly respected high-altitude pilot who is often called upon for difficult mountain rescues, Laing flew sorties to airlift many trapped climbers and their Sherpa guides out from camps one and two on Mt Everest after the huge avalanche that devastated the summit’s south base camp.
In addition to the Appareo Pilot of the Year Award, Laing has also been honored with the Kumar Khadga Bikram Adventurous Award from the Nepal Mountaineering Association and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Diploma for Outstanding Airmanship. He has also been working with the Himalayan Trust set up by Sir Edmund Hillary to help raise $50,000 to stage mountain rescue equipment at Everest above the ice falls, as well as to help rebuild Sherpa villages in Nepal.
“I’d just got back to my hotel and was getting ready to come into work,” Laing recalled about 25 April 2015. “I was on the sixth floor when the quake hit. The building didn’t fall down but it was extensively damaged. I was very lucky to get out alive.”
He headed straight to Kathmandu Airport and went up in one of the first helicopters dispatched to survey the damage. The day after the quake, Laing was tasked to fly reconnaissance to villages where all communications were lost. He discovered massive loss of life, and returned to base to begin a major rescue effort.
“We went up to the Langtang area. There were massive avalanches everywhere. It was total devastation. There were whole villages just gone,” he said. Next, he was sent to Mt. Everest’s Camps 1 and 2, where a collapsed icefall had trapped some 140 climbers.