Helicopter on way to Kedarnath crashlands on highway, all 6 onboard safe

Rudraprayag: Five pilgrims and a pilot onboard a helicopter had a narrow escape when the aircraft on its way to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district on Saturday after developing a technical snag during take-off, officials said. The pilot sustained minor injuries and was rushed to a hospital, they said.

Videos on social media showed the Kestrel Aviation helicopter standing in the middle of the highway, dangerously close to populated buildings and with a parked car damaged by its tail rotor. The helicopter had flown from Badasu base for Kedarnath when it made the emergency landing shortly after take-off on the main road just below the highway near Sirsi following a technical snag, the officials said. Six people onboard the helicopter including the pilot had a close call. People on the ground got scared as they saw the helicopter losing balance in the air and crashlanding on the road, eyewitnesses said.

Kedarnath heli service nodal officer Rahul Chaubey said the incident did not affect the heli shuttle service to the Himalayan temple. Efforts are underway to remove the helicopter from the highway. Police have issued an appeal to pilgrims going to Kedarnath by road to stay wherever they are as removing the helicopter from the highway and unblocking it can take some time. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said Kestrel Aviation's AW119 (Reg. VT-RNK) helicopter, piloted by Capt R P S Sodhi, experienced a hard landing on the road adjacent to the Barasu helipad.

According to initial inputs, shortly after take-off from the helipad, the pilot reported a suspected issue with the collective control getting stuck. In response, he executed a controlled force landing on the road near the helipad. All passengers are safe and unharmed, it said. The pilot has been taken to hospital for evaluation due to complaints of backache. The helicopter took off at 12.52 pm from Badasu (Sersi) helipad and landed immediately on the main road just below the helipad. A team is being sent to the spot for onsite assessment, the DGCA said. It is for the fourth time in a month that pilgrims travelling by air on the Char Dham Yatra route had a close shave. The hard landing of the helicopter on Saturday comes just about a month after another private helicopter on its way to Gangotri temple crashed near Gangnani in Uttarkashi district on May 8, killing six people including five women and the pilot, and leaving one male passenger seriously injured. On May 12, a helicopter returning from Badrinath to Sersi with pilgrims on board was forced to make an emergency landing due to poor visibility in a school playground in Ukhimath. All pilgrims were safe. The helicopter took off again after about an hour when the weather improved. On May 17, a heli ambulance from AIIMS Rishikesh crash-landed near the Kedarnath helipad in Uttarakhand due to damage to its rear part. Fortunately, all three occupants on board – a doctor, a pilot and a medical staff member – escaped unharmed.