CHAMOLI (Uttarakhand), Oct 30 (Agencies): A helicopter with six people on board crashed into a hillside in Joshimath on a rained out, overcast Friday afternoon about an hour after it took off from Badrinath on its way to Dehradun, officials said.
The six people on board the Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd.’s helicopter were identified as Capt. Himanshu and five male passengers — Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K, and H S Natraja. There is no immediate confirmation of casualties.
The chopper crashed into a hillside near the JP Power House near Marwari Bridge around 2.20 pm, they said. It is not confirmed yet whether it was returning from the Badrinath shrine.
Teams of the Chamoli administration, police, SDRF, Army and ITBP have been dispatched to the site for relief and rescue operations, they said.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said he was monitoring the situation closely and that he has issued instructions that those who are critically injured are immediately airlifted to a higher-level medical facility.
The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) said that a Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd’s helicopter bearing call sign VT-HCX, operating from Badrinath to Sahastradhara, Dehradun, which took off at approximately 1:15 pm, went missing around 2:20 pm.
“The helicopter lost communication when it was flying over Joshimath valley. At the same time, the tracking system could no longer track the helicopter, and its current location has not been ascertained yet,” said a statement issued by UCADA.
UCADA CEO Prateek Jain told PTI that details about the passengers are being verified, with initial reports saying they were from Bengaluru.
He said that the location where the helicopter has crashed has not been traced yet. “As soon as the weather clears, another rescue helicopter will be sent to locate the missing chopper, Jain added.
UCADA said that as a precautionary measure, the entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd. has been grounded.
In a post on X, CM Dhami said, “Reports have been received regarding an unfortunate helicopter crash near Chai village, close to Joshimath. A joint rescue operation is being conducted by the district administration, the Disaster Management Department, and the SDRF.”
“I am personally monitoring the situation closely. I have issued instructions to ensure that those who are critically injured are immediately airlifted to a higher-level medical facility for better treatment. I pray to God for the safety of the passengers,” he said.
An analysis by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) showed that there were nine occurrences, including eight accidents and one serious incident, in the Char Dham sector during the in 2015-2025 period, with at least 1 accident or serious incident every year from 2022 onwards.
Last year, there were four accidents — two of them fatal — which was also the maximum number of accidents that occurred in a single year, AAIB said.
The Badrinath temple is among the “char dhams” in Uttarakhand. Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath are the other shrines that make up the Char Dham Yatra, a Hindu pilgrimage circuit in the Himalayas.