9. Landing Atop Mt. Everest

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Didier Delsalle achieved a historic feat on May 14, 2005, by landing his Eurocopter AS350 Squirrel helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest.
  • He successfully repeated the treacherous landing the following day, demonstrating the initial success was not a fluke.
  • Delsalle stated the most challenging part of the extremely risky maneuver was landing on the snow without knowing its depth on the world's highest peak.
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Didier Delsalle landed his Eurocopter AS350 Squirrel atop the world’s highest piece of real estate on May 14, 2005. He repeated the feat the next day to show it was no fluke. No fluke, but it was treacherous and super risky. The hardest part, he said, was landing on the snow, not knowing how much snow he would have to settle through before his helicopter settled its weight on the world’s most famous summit.

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