The Indian ambassador was in Mugu during the Rara Festival. A porter was walking right in front of him carrying his bag and the present the people of Mugu had given him, a wooden briefcase. He followed the porter and as he reached the helipad, Kamal Kant Regmi, the Chief District Officer, and Mahendra Singh Rathore, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, stood on either side of the ambassador to be photographed with him. The DSP called out to an MP, who was already in the helicopter, and the MP also came running to have his photo taken, after which all of them got into the helicopter. The pilot asked whether 16 more people more could be accommodated-they then trooped in and sat on the floor. The ambassador was shocked.
The aircraft landed at Surkhet airport, and everyone there said that it was overloaded and this should not have happened. The ambassador told a reporter of Jana Aastha that this was illegal, and overloading should never be allowed.

The helicopter in question belonged to Asian Air, and had a Russian pilot. According to the rules, the helicopter is not allowed to carry more than 21 people at a time but this chopper had 32 people on board. The ambassador was so angry, he did not even speak to the Chief District Officer of Surkhet who was at the airport to welcome him. The CDO was actually there to receive Minister for Tourism Bal Bahadur KC and he was surprised to see the ambassador .

After the ambassador left for Nepalgunj, the CDO went back to what he was doing-preparing for KC's visit. The CDO requested the members of the press not to write about the overloaded helicopter. In fact, he threatened the reporters and said that overloading was not something new in these mountainous regions. He added that no one could ever do anything about it. Most helicopters operating in these areas are used to ferry food to the hilly regions. The airline companies had agreed with the organising committee of the Rara Festival that they would provide 20 flights. They also promised to slash fares by 20 percent and allow passengers to take 15 kg of luggage free of cost. The companies did nothing of the sort-they charged people for excess luggage, which was less than the 15 kg promised, and they did not reduce fares.