Three people were killed and four others injured when a small passenger plane collided with a parked helicopter in Nepal Sunday.

The Twin Otter plane had been getting ready to take off for Kathmandu in a hilly area near Mount Everest when it crashed, said an official at the Tenzing Hillary Airport at Lukla.

Among the dead were the plane’s co-pilot and two police officers who were near the parked helicopter, said Nepal police spokesman Uttam Raj Subedi. The four passengers and a flight attendant were safe.

The aircraft was operated by Summit Air. The cause of the incident was not immediately known.

The airport — called the gateway to Mount Everest — is one of the world’s most dangerous because of the short runway and the mountainous surroundings.

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