Six Killed in Helicopter Crash in India’s Uttarakhand

Six people, including the pilot, were killed when a passenger helicopter crashed in Chamoli district of India’s Uttarakhand state. Authorities said contact with the aircraft was lost on the Joshimath-Badrinath route on Friday (October 30) before it crashed. NDTV reported.

Officials said the helicopter took off from Badrinath at around 1:14 pm amid snowfall. Contact with the aircraft was subsequently lost near the Hathi Parvat area. It later crashed on a hillside near the JP Power House, close to Marwari Bridge, at around 2:20 pm.

All six victims were men. They have been identified as passengers Pratap, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudhir K and H.S. Nataraj, along with the pilot, Captain Himanshu.

In a statement, the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority said the helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Private Limited and registered as VT-HCX, was travelling from Badrinath to Sahastradhara in Dehradun.

Contact with the aircraft was lost while it was flying over the Joshimath Valley. Its location could not be traced through the tracking system either, the statement added.

As a precautionary measure, all helicopter operations operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Private Limited have been temporarily suspended, according to the statement.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said he was closely monitoring the situation. He also directed officials to ensure that anyone found seriously injured is airlifted to a hospital for advanced medical treatment without delay.