A helicopter carrying pilgrims from Kedarnath crashed on Sunday morning, killing all seven people aboard, including a two-year-old girl, authorities said, as preliminary analysis showed the aircraft went down in treacherous weather in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand.
Sunday’s tragedy was the fifth helicopter incident on the route in six weeks: three emergency landings and another crash have killed six people during this period. It also comes days after the country’s worst air disaster in three decades that took place on Thursday when Air India flight 171 crashed shortly after take-off, leaving all but one of 242 passengers dead and claiming the lives of dozens more on the ground.
“The valley was covered in dense fog with overcast conditions [at the time of the crash],” said state disaster response force commandant Arpan Yadhuvanshi. Rescue teams trekked five kilometres through difficult terrain to reach the wreckage in a forest near Gaurikund, the base camp for treks to Kedarnath temple. The spot lies roughly 5-7 km from the take-off point, and the general area is close to 9,000 feet above sea level.
“The helicopter departed from Kedarnath at 5:21 am for Guptkashi. It was last seen near Valley Point at 5:24 am. At 6:13 am, the helicopter company reported that the chopper had not reached Guptkashi. We then launched a search and rescue operation,” said Rudraprayag district disaster management officer Nandan Singh Rajwar.
The victims included pilot Rajveer Singh Chauhan, 35, a former army officer from Jaipur; a family of three from Maharashtra — Rajkumar Suresh Jaiswal, 41, his wife Shradha, 35, and their daughter Kashi, 2; two passengers from Uttar Pradesh, Vinod Devi, 66, and her granddaughter Tusti Singh, 19; and temple committee member Vikram Singh Rawat, 46.
The crash highlights growing safety concerns over helicopter operations serving the Char Dham pilgrimage route, which includes four sacred Hindu temples in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. The routes see tens of thousands of pilgrims annually, many using helicopters to navigate the treacherous mountain terrain.
The civil aviation ministry said preliminary findings suggest “controlled flight into terrain,” with the helicopter airborne despite poor visibility. Operations for Aryan Aviation have been suspended immediately. The ministry said the exact cause of the crash will be determined after an investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
“When the chopper was returning, it encountered sudden adverse weather conditions in the valley. The pilot attempted to navigate the helicopter out of the valley, however, the aircraft crashed during the effort,” said Rudraprayag district tourism officer Rahul Chaubey, the nodal officer for chopper service in Rudraprayag.
Helicopter accidents are not uncommon in the region, where sudden weather changes and high-altitude flying conditions can pose risks.
But experts said hard questions must be asked. “We can’t keep blaming the weather,” said Captain Sandeep Soti, former chief of flight safety for Uttarakhand state. “Commercial pressures are involved, and shortcuts are sometimes taken. Operators often try to meet their sortie targets.”
Last year, no loss of lives were reported as helicopters made 22,804 sorties on the Kedarnath route during the six months of the Char Dham Yatra. Only one emergency landing was reported. Officials said this year 8,786 sorties have been carried out on the route and said the number was comparatively low because of adverse weather conditions.
Last week, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) intensified safety oversight of helicopter operations in Uttarakhand last week, introducing live monitoring and surprise audits.
In its statement on Sunday, the civil aviation ministry said operations of Aryan Aviation for the Char Dham Yatra have been suspended with immediate effect. It added that two helicopters belonging to TransBharat Aviation were found to also be airborne under similar “unsuitable weather conditions”.
“Accordingly, the licences of both pilots have been suspended for six months. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has reiterated aviation safety is non-negotiable and that no operator should undertake flights in violation of weather-related and other protocols,” it said. Late in the evening, an FIR was registered against Aryan Aviation’s accountable manager Kaushik Pathak and manager Vikas Tomar under BNS Section 105 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and relevant sections of the Vayuyan Act on the complaint of revenue sub inspector Rajiv Nakholia. In his complaint, Nakholia said that the firm operated the chopper despite adverse weather conditions and violated the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
HT reached out to Aryan Aviation and TransBharat Aviation for a response but did not get one immediately.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered helicopter services suspended through Monday and called for a high-level inquiry. He said strict operating procedures prioritising public safety must be implemented, including mandatory technical checks.
“The safety of passengers is the state government’s top priority,” Dhami said.
The families of the victims were shrouded in grief and shock as they struggled to come to terms with the tragedy. “He had become a father after fourteen years of marriage. We planning a ceremony for his four-month-old twins. But, everything is over now,” Chauhan’s father Govind Chauhan said.
