7 killed in chopper crash at Kedarnath

In a tweet, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia called the crash extremely unfortunate and said they were in touch with the state government to ascertain the magnitude of the loss.

Seven people including the pilot on board a helicopter ferrying pilgrims from the Kedarnath temple to Guptkashi in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district were killed on Tuesday after the aircraft crashed into a hill amid poor visibility, officials said.

The crash site. (Sourced)

The incident prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to launch an investigation, even as officials pointed out that the owner of the helicopter, Aryan Aviation, was fined by the aviation regulator after a hard-landing in May this year for violating norms.

The chopper, a Bell 407 (VT-RPN) owned by the Delhi-based Aryan company, crashed about 2km from the Kedarnath shrine, and subsequently burst into flames around 11.35am, an official of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) said.

Although VK Singh, owner of Aryan Aviation, told HT that the accident was unfortunate, he declined to comment on the pervious violations revealed by the regulator’s audit.

Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the Centre “is in touch with the state government to ascertain the magnitude of the loss, and are constantly monitoring the situation”.

“The accident took place possibly due to bad weather,” a DGCA official said on condition of anonymity. “However, we have begun our investigation.”

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said detailed investigations will be carried out into the crash. State authorities also stopped all helicopter operations in the area until further orders.

Preliminary probe indicated that fog and poor visibility could be the reasons behind the crash, SDRF commandant Manikant Mishra said.

Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) chief executive officer (CEO) C Ravi Shankar said a magisterial inquiry had also been ordered into the incident. “The weather conditions were bad in the area. An investigation into the matter will reveal what exactly happened there. Pilots need to see the safety aspects while flying when weather or visibility conditions are bad,” he said.

“The pilots operating the helicopters are highly qualified and will not fly in adverse weather conditions or in case the machine develops a technical snag. As the weather changes frequently in the Kedarnath valley, the sudden foggy condition might have affected the visibility forcing the pilot to attempt a return halfway, but we can come to any conclusion only after the final investigation report that will be done by the DGCA,” he said.

A technical team from DGCA will reach Dehradun on Wednesday to investigate the crash, Shankar added.

Yogendra Singh, chief executive officer of Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee, said the crash occurred after the chopper encountered thick fog while returning from Kedarnath.

Upon receiving information, a team of SDRF and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to the spot for rescue operations, the officials cited above said.

The teams, however, faced difficulties since it was snowing in the area. They later managed to recover all the bodies, the officials added. In August 2019, a chopper of Aryan Aviation Private Limited crashed after it hit apple cart cables in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district. Two people on board escaped with minor injuries. The incident prompted authorities to temporarily suspend chopper services in the area.

Nine helicopter operators fly pilgrims to and from a helipad at Kedarnath, Shankar said. “We will send a report to the Centre and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday’s incident,” Shankar said.

The deceased were identified as Purva Ramanuj (26), Kruti Brar (30), Urvi Brar (25), Sujata (56), Prem Kumar (63), Kala (60), and pilot Anil Singh (57). While three pilgrims hailed from Gujarat, three others belonged to Tamil Nadu. The pilot was from Maharashtra.

Announcing a probe into the crash, Dhami tweeted: “Very sad news has been received about the casualties of some people in the unfortunate helicopter crash at Garud Chatti near Kedarnath. The SDRF and district administration teams have reached the spot for relief and rescue work. A detailed inquiry has been ordered into this tragic incident.”

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah also expressed grief over the incident.

“The news of the death of many pilgrims, including the pilot in the helicopter crash, near Kedarnath Dham is very sad. My deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones,” the office of President of India tweeted.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said: “Anguished by the helicopter crash in Uttarakhand. In this tragic hour, my thoughts are with the bereaved families.”

Nine aviation companies operate chopper services from Sirsi, Phata and Guptkashi to Kedarnath. Ten to twelve choppers are flown in a day to ferry devotees to the famous shrine in 10 minutes. The cost for travel to both sides is around ₹9,000.

On May 30 this, a chopper ferrying pilgrims to the high-altitude shrine made a hard landing at Kedarnath helipad. While no injuries were reported, the incident prompted DGCA to issue an advisory to all operators plying on the Char Dham pilgrimage routes.

It also conducted an audit and spot check of the choppers involved in shuttle operations in Kedarnath in June and two months later, imposed a penalty of ₹5 lakh each on five operators over irregularities in flying records.

The civil aviation regulator further suspended officials of two other operators for three months over violation of safety regulations.

The DGCA did not provide details of the names of the firms which faced action.

The area has witnessed several civil and military helicopter accidents in the past as well.