Seven people, including a 23-month-old child and the pilot, were killed Tuesday morning when an Aryan Aviation helicopter crashed between Gaurikund and Sonprayag while returning from Kedarnath temple to Guptkashi. The crash occurred around 5:20 a.m. amid deteriorating weather conditions, according to the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA).
Rahul Chaubey from the District Tourism Development confirmed that the pilot attempted to steer the chopper away from the valley as weather worsened, but it crashed in the forest. Locals gathering fodder alerted authorities. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the site by trekking from Gaurikund and recovered all bodies by 8:55 a.m, NDTV reported.
During its 10-minute flight, the helicopter crashed between Gaurikund and Sonprayag.
Among the victims were three members of Maharashtra’s Jaiswal family: Rajkumar Suresh Jaiswal, his wife Shraddha, and their infant daughter Kashi. Their son Vivaan survived as he stayed behind with his grandfather. Two other pilgrims — Vinod Devi, 66, and Trishti Singh, 19, from Uttar Pradesh — also died. Vikram Rawat, a Badarinath Kedarnath Temple Committee employee from Ukhimath, and the 39-year-old pilot Captain Rajbir Singh Chauhan from Jaipur, were also among the deceased.
Inspector General Rajiv Swaroop stated that DNA tests will be conducted for identification before handing over the bodies to families.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief on social media and directed the Chief Secretary to form a committee of technical experts to draft stringent Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for heli services, including mandatory technical checks and accurate weather assessments before flights, as reported by ANI.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will investigate the crash. This marks the fifth accident since Kedarnath’s temple portals opened on May 2, raising growing safety concerns for aerial pilgrimage operations in Uttarakhand’s treacherous terrain.
Photo by Bornil Amin on Unsplash
Leave a Reply