Helicopter crash-lands near Kedarnath, fourth chopper mishap on Char Dham route in 30 days

A private helicopter crash landed on Saturday in Badsau area of Rudraprayag district soon after it took off from the Sirsi helipad used to take pilgrims to Kedarnath.

As per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the private chopper was Kestrel Aviation’s AW119 helicopter. It experienced a hard landing on the road adjacent to the Bharasu helipad.

"As per initial inputs, shortly after takeoff from the helipad, the pilot reported a suspected issue with the collective control getting stuck. In response, he executed a controlled force landing on the road near the helipad. All passengers are safe and unharmed. The pilot has been taken to the hospital for evaluation due to complaints of back pain," the DGCA said in a statement.

This was the fourth helicopter mishap on the Char Dham route in the span of 30 days.

The helicopter had five pilgrims going to Kedarnath from Sirsi helipad. The tail of the helicopter broke while landing. Authorities said that no one was injured in the incident.

An official communication from the stat government mentioned, “The CEO of UCADA has informed that a helicopter made a precautionary landing on the road, instead of the helipad, while taking off with passengers from Sirsi. There are no reports of any casualties. The DGCA has been notified, and the rest of the shuttle operations are proceeding as scheduled.”

On May 8, a helicopter crashed near Gangotri, leading to six deaths. An incident was averted when a chopper blade hit a vehicle at the Badrinath helipad on May 12. An air ambulance crashed in the Kedarnath area as its tail hit the ground while landing near the helipad on May 17 and no casualties were reported.