HUMANITARIAN SERVICE AWARD For outstanding service in using rotorcraft to provide aid to those in need Ananda “Andy” Thapa Operations Director, Altitude Air, Kathmandu, Nepal


A hero to countless individuals, Ananda “Andy” Tapa is humble by nature. Born in the remote area of Dhading District in Nepal, Tapa grew up in extreme poverty. As a child, he averaged one meal a day and had no electricity, telephone, or even a nearby medical facility. He did, however, have a dream: he wanted to fly. So he worked hard in his studies, earning a spot in a Nepali Army education program in Kathmandu. Because his family couldn’t afford higher education, Tapa enlisted in the


Nepali Army’s officer program, hoping to be selected for pilot training despite it being exceptionally rare in the army. Timing was on Tapa’s side, however. Civil war broke out in Nepal during his second year of cadet officer training, creating a need for helicopter and fighter pilots. Amid fierce competition, Tapa was chosen and learned to fly helicopters. After eight years flying in the army, Tapa accepted a civilian helicopter


pilot position where he could apply his experience and understanding of the small villages, remote regions, fast-changing weather, and terrain of Nepal to perform rescues and extractions. Tapa has since been credited with hundreds of, if not well over 1,000,


technical rescues throughout Nepal and surrounding regions. He is one of the elite skilled pilots who have extracted multiple climbers from Mount Everest, landing as high as Camp 2 above 21,000 ft. (6,401 m). He participated in the much-publicized search for Bulgarian mountaineer Boyan Petrov in 2018, which unfortunately ended with no sign of Petrov. In 2022 alone, Tapa participated in three large rescues: he airlifted several climbers from Mount Everest’s Camp 1 and Camp 2, evacuated two people at 22,349 ft. (6,812 m) from Ama Dablam using a human longline technique, and, together with another company rescue pilot, rescued 72 Nepalese and foreign visitors stranded in a remote region of Nepal by extremely bad weather. Tapa has also helped families achieve closure. In 2018, famed


Ananda “Andy” Thapa


Thapa has been credited with hundreds of, if not well over 1,000, technical rescues throughout Nepal and surrounding regions.


mountaineer Kim Chang-ho, the first Korean to summit the world’s 14 tallest mountains without supplemental oxygen, died with eight others at the base camp of Gurja Himal in Nepal. After searchers discovered their bodies, Tapa transported them down the mountain via longline. Te one rescue that stands out the most in Tapa’s mind took place


on Jun. 18, 2021. Five days before, more than 100 people had trekked to areas bordering Tibet from the Nepalese town of Manang to collect Yarsagumba, a medicinal fungus, and hadn’t returned. Tapa took the lead in the search, flying their route up the mountains. While most were feared dead, Tapa found them all alive between 14,000 ft. (4,267 m) and 17,200 ft. (5,243 m), stranded after heavy snowfall. He transported the most critical, about 70 in all, back to a lower-altitude safe zone within an incredible two hours and 20 minutes. He also delivered a supply drop of food and other survival goods to the remaining 30


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foragers as the weather deteriorated and fuel ran low. Tapa says this rescue was the most successful and also the fastest he has conducted in his career, but it is only one of countless rescues that have made the helicopter the real hero to the people of and visitors to Nepal.


MARCH 2023 ROTOR 45


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