Top News

Seven people were confirmed dead after a chopper returning from Kedarnath Shrine crashed in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district, the officials said on Sunday. The helicopter was en route to Guptkashi.

The pilot was among those dead in the crash. The chopper with five adults, one infant, and one crew member on board took off from Guptkashi at 05:10 am and landed at Shri Kedarnath Ji helipad at 05:18 am. The helicopter took off again at 5:19 am for Guptkanshi and crashed near Gaurikund, officials said.

Chopper service in all four shrines (entire Char Dham) has been suspended after today’s crash at Kedarnath valley.

How Did the Chopper Crash Take Place?

The visuals showed the wreckage of the helicopter in flames in an open field. The crash occurred between Gaurikund and Triyuginarayan while returning from the shrine.

According to officials, the chopper belonged to Aryan Aviation, and there were 7 people on board.

The officials believe bad weather may be the cause of the tragic incident.

Sources said that the helicopter took off even after the weather was visibly bad. “To navigate the weather, the helicopter gained altitude, and then the incident happened," sources said.

“According to the information received from locals, there is no possibility of anyone surviving. There were six people in this helicopter, including the pilot Chauhan. One of the passengers was a child, and one was a BKTC (Shri Badarinath Kedarnath Temples Committee) employee," Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said.

The Uttarakhand authorities said that the passengers who were on the ill-fated chopper were from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. One passenger is from Uttarakhand and is an employee of the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee.

Among the passengers on board were Vikram Rawat, (45), a resident of Rasi in Ukhimath, Uttarakhand; Vinod Devi (66), from Uttar Pradesh; and Trishti Singh (19), also from Uttar Pradesh, Rajkumar (41) from Maharashtra; his wife Shraddha Rajkumar (35); and their 2-year-old son Kashi. The pilot was identified as Captain Rajbir Singh Chauhan, who hailed from Jaipur.

CM Dhami On Chopper Crash

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed anguish over the chopper crash and said that the SDRF and other rescue teams have been put on the rescue operation.

“Very sad news has been received about a helicopter crash in Rudraprayag district. SDRF, local administration and other rescue teams are engaged in relief and rescue operations. I pray to Baba Kedar for the safety of all the travellers," he posted on X.

This comes days after an ill-fated Air India flight 171 crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after taking off for London. 241 people, including the cabin crew, died in the crash on June 12. There was merely one survivor in the incident, a British national.
The horrific videos of the crash surfaced online, sending shockwaves across the country and the world. The black box of the aircraft was recovered on Friday evening, and the decoding of the data is underway.

Officials said that the black box data report would ascertain the cause behind the shocking crash of the Air India flight.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the crash site and met with the victims, including the lone survivor.