Editing Mount Everest (section)

==Aviation==
=== 1933: Flight over Everest ===
{{Main|Houston–Mount Everest flight expedition}}

[[Lucy, Lady Houston]], a British [[millionaire]] former [[showgirl]], funded the Houston Everest Flight of 1933. A formation of [[airplane]]s led by the [[Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton|Marquess of Clydesdale]] flew over the summit in an effort to photograph the unknown terrain.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.flymicro.com/everest/index.cfm?page=docs%2FHistory%2FAeroplanes.htm |title=Aeroplane expeditions to Everest |publisher=FlyMicro.com |access-date=13 February 2010}}</ref>

===1988: First climb and glide===
On 26 September 1988, having climbed the mountain via the Southeast Ridge, [[Jean-Marc Boivin]] made the first [[paraglider]] descent of Everest,<ref name="A view from the top of the world">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6334653.stm|title=A view from the top of the world|work=BBC News|date=15 February 2007|access-date=6 October 2010}}</ref> in the process creating the record for the fastest descent of the mountain and the highest paraglider flight. Boivin said: "I was tired when I reached the top because I had broken much of the trail, and to run at this altitude was quite hard."<ref name=Back>{{cite journal|first=John|last=Harlin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w-QDAAAAMBAJ&q=boivin%20everest&pg=PA1|title=Get Down|journal=Backpacker Magazine|date=May 1989|page=11}}</ref> Boivin ran {{convert|60|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} from below the summit on 40-degree slopes to launch his paraglider, reaching Camp II at {{convert|19400|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} in 12 minutes (some sources say 11 minutes).<ref name=Back/><ref name=glider>{{cite web|url=http://www.flymicro.com/everest/index.cfm?page=docs%2FHistory%2FHang_gliders_and_Paragliders.htm#_1986|title=Hang glider and Paraglider expeditions to Everest|publisher=flymicro.com|access-date=2 October 2010}}</ref> Boivin would not repeat this feat, as he was killed two years later in 1990, [[BASE jumping]] off Venezuela's [[Angel Falls]].<ref name="splatula">{{cite web | url=http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/wiki/Jean-Marc_Boivin | title=BASE Fatality List – Jean-Marc Boivin | publisher=blincmagazine.com | date=23 January 2016 | access-date=17 June 2016}}</ref>

===1991: Hot air balloon flyover===
In 1991, four men in two balloons achieved the first [[hot-air balloon]] flight over Mount Everest.<ref name="balloon">{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-03/a-hot-air-balloon-ride-over-mt-everest-will-cost-you-2-6-million.html|title=A Hot-Air Balloon Ride Over Mt. Everest Will Cost You $2.6 Million|website=[[Bloomberg News]]}}</ref> In one balloon were Andy Elson and [[Eric Jones (climber)|Eric Jones]] (cameraman), and in the other balloon Chris Dewhirst and [[Leo Dickinson]] (cameraman).<ref name="elson">{{cite web|url=http://www.andyelson.com/Everest.htm |title=Andy Elson goes over the top |website=andyelson.com |access-date=20 September 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030458/http://www.andyelson.com/Everest.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> Dickinson went on to write a book about the adventure called ''Ballooning Over Everest''.<ref name="elson"/> The hot-air balloons were modified to function at up to {{convert|40000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} altitude.<ref name="elson"/> Reinhold Messner called one of Dickinson's panoramic views of Everest, captured on the now discontinued Kodak [[Kodachrome]] film, the "best snap on Earth", according to UK newspaper ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/5886994/Spectacular-panorama-captured-of-the-Himalayas-from-hot-air-balloon.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/5886994/Spectacular-panorama-captured-of-the-Himalayas-from-hot-air-balloon.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Spectacular panorama captured of the Himalayas from hot air balloon|date=22 July 2009|website=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=20 September 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Dewhirst has offered to take passengers on a repeat of this feat for US$2.6&nbsp;million per passenger.<ref name="balloon"/>

===2005: Pilot summits with helicopter===
[[File:Eurocopter AS-350B-3 Ecureuil AN0980259.jpg|thumb|Photo of a Eurocopter AS350 B3 "Squirrel"]]

In May 2005, pilot [[Didier Delsalle]] of France landed a [[Eurocopter AS350]] B3 helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest.<ref name="eurocopter">{{cite web|url=http://www-t.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0510/0509/whats_new/helicopter_everest.html|title=Landing on Air|publisher=National Geographic Adventure|date=1 September 2005|access-date=24 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706033814/http://www-t.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0510/0509/whats_new/helicopter_everest.html|archive-date=6 July 2016}}</ref> He needed to land for two minutes to set the {{lang|fr|[[Fédération Aéronautique Internationale]]|italic=no}} (FAI) official record, but he stayed for about four minutes, twice.<ref name="eurocopter"/> In this type of landing the rotors stay engaged, which avoids relying on the snow to fully support the aircraft. The flight set [[rotorcraft]] world [[List of Mount Everest records|records]], for highest of both landing and take-off.<ref name="fai"/>

Some press reports suggested that the report of the summit landing was a misunderstanding of a South Col landing, but he had also landed on South Col two days earlier,<ref name=everestnet>{{cite web|url=http://www.mounteverest.net/story/FrenchEverestMysteryChoppersUtopiasummit-VIDEOMay272005.shtml|title=French Everest Mystery Chopper's Utopia summit|publisher=MountEverest.net|date=27 May 2005|access-date=20 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113192323/http://www.mounteverest.net/story/FrenchEverestMysteryChoppersUtopiasummit-VIDEOMay272005.shtml|archive-date=13 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> with this landing and the Everest records confirmed by the FAI.<ref name="fai">{{cite web|url=http://records.fai.org/rotorcraft/history.asp?id1=112&id2=80&id3=1&id4=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202045947/http://records.fai.org/rotorcraft/history.asp?id1=112&id2=80&id3=1&id4=2|archive-date=2 December 2008|title=Rotorcraft World Records|publisher=FAI}}</ref> Delsalle also rescued two Japanese climbers at {{convert|16000|ft|m|-1|abbr=on|order=flip}} while he was there. One climber noted that the new record meant a better chance of rescue.<ref name="eurocopter"/>

===2011: Paraglide off summit===
On 21 May 2011, Nepalis Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa and Sanobabu Sunuwar paraglided from Everest's summit to [[Namche Bazaar]] in 42 minutes.<ref name="abcnews1"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://xcmag.com/news/60-years-of-everest-paragliding-and-hang-gliding-on-the-worlds-highest-peak/ |title=60 Years of Everest: Paragliding and Hang Gliding on the World's Highest Peak|date=29 May 2013 |author=Ed Ewing |publisher=Cross Country Magazine}}</ref> After the flight they hiked, biked, and [[Kayaking|kayaked]] to the Indian Ocean, reaching the Bay of Bengal by 27 June 2011, thereby becoming the first people to complete a continuous summit-to-sea descent from Everest.<ref name="nationalgeographic1">{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/sanobabu-sunuwar-lakpa-tsheri-sherpa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731103625/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/sanobabu-sunuwar-lakpa-tsheri-sherpa |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 July 2021 |title=Ultimate Descent: Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa and Sano Babu Sunuwar |publisher=nationalgeographic.com |date=9 November 2011 |access-date=19 March 2021}}</ref> They accomplished the ground-breaking feat despite Bapu having never previously climbed, and Lakpa having never kayaked and not even knowing how to swim.<ref name="nationalgeographic1"/> The duo subsequently won National Geographic Adventurers of the Year for 2012 for their exploits.<ref name="nationalgeographic1"/> In 2013 footage of the flight was shown on the television news program ''[[Nightline]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/ultimate-descent-paragliding-off-everest-21242814 |title=Ultimate Descent: Paragliding off Everest Video |publisher=Abcnews.go.com |access-date=17 June 2016}}</ref>

===2014: Helicopter-assisted ascent===
In 2014, a team financed and led by mountaineer [[Wang Jing (mountaineer)|Wang Jing]] used a helicopter to fly from South Base Camp to Camp II to avoid the Khumbu Icefall, and thence climbed to the Everest summit.<ref name="nationalgeographic2">{{cite web|last1=Brown|first1=Chip|title=Chinese Woman Becomes First to Summit Everest After Avalanche|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/140525-everest-nepal-sherpas-climber-climbing-chinese-summit-avalanche-namche|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224171728/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/140525-everest-nepal-sherpas-climber-climbing-chinese-summit-avalanche-namche|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 February 2021|website=National Geographic|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=11 June 2023|date=25 May 2014|quote=Next year I think maybe I will relax.}}</ref> This climb immediately sparked outrage and controversy in much of the mountaineering world over the legitimacy and propriety of her climb.<ref name="news.nationalgeographic.com" /><ref name="Gornyack">{{cite web|last1=Yelkov|first1=Alexander|title=Ван Цзин – миллионерша, красавица, мама и скандальная рекордсменка мира (Wang Jing – millionaire, beauty, mother and scandalous world record holder)|url=http://xn--80afvlem1dxc.xn--p1ai/articles/all/article_8058/ |website=ГорнЯшкА.рф|publisher=Gornyack.com|access-date=18 December 2017|language=ru|date=20 April 2015}}</ref> Nepal ended up investigating Wang, who initially denied the claim that she had flown to Camp II, admitting only that some support crew were flown to that higher camp, over the Khumbu Icefall.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sharma |first=Gopal |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nepal-china-everest-idUSKBN0E70UO20140527 |title=Nepal probes if Chinese woman used helicopter on Everest climb |work=Reuters |date=27 May 2014 |access-date=17 June 2016}}</ref> In August 2014, however, she stated that she had flown to Camp II because the icefall was impassable. "If you don't fly to Camp II, you just go home", she said in an interview. In that same interview, she also insisted that she had never tried to hide this fact.<ref name="news.nationalgeographic.com" />

Her team had had to use the south side because the Chinese had denied them a permit to climb. Ultimately, the Chinese refusal may have been beneficial to Nepal's interests, allowing the government to showcase improved local hospitals and providing the opportunity for a new hybrid aviation/mountaineering style, triggering discussions about helicopter use in the mountaineering world.<ref name="news.nationalgeographic.com"/> National Geographic noted that a village festooned Wang with honours after she donated US$30,000 to the town's hospital. Wang won the [[International Mountaineer of the Year Award]] from the Nepal government in June 2014.<ref name="nationalgeographic2"/>

===2016: Helicopter business increases===
In 2016 the increased use of helicopters was noted for increased efficiency and for hauling material over the deadly Khumbu icefall.<ref name="blogs.dw.com">{{cite web |url=http://blogs.dw.com/adventuresports/2016/04/23/helicopter-transport-flights-to-everest-high-camps/ |title=Helicopter transport flights to Everest high camps – Mount Everest|publisher=Blogs.dw.com – Adventure Sports|date=25 April 2015 |access-date=17 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902225132/http://blogs.dw.com/adventuresports/2016/04/23/helicopter-transport-flights-to-everest-high-camps/ |archive-date=2 September 2016}}</ref> In particular it was noted that flights saved icefall porters 80 trips but still increased commercial activity at Everest.<ref name="blogs.dw.com"/> After many Nepalis died in the icefall in 2014, the government had wanted helicopters to handle more transportation to Camp 1 but this was not possible because of the 2015 earthquake closing the mountain, so this was then implemented in 2016 (helicopters did prove instrumental in rescuing many people in 2015 though).<ref name="blogs.dw.com"/> That summer Bell tested the [[Bell 412#Variants|412EPI]], which conducted a series of tests including hovering at {{convert|18,000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} and flying as high as {{convert|20,000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} altitude near Mount Everest.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bergqvist |first=Pia |url=http://www.flyingmag.com/bell-helicopter-tests-412epi-near-mount-everest |title=Bell Helicopter Tests 412EPI Near Mount Everest &#124; Flying Magazine |date=16 June 2016 |publisher=Flyingmag.com |access-date=17 June 2016}}</ref>