DEHRADUN: All six people aboard a helicopter that crashed near Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday were killed, with their bodies recovered, Chamoli Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar said.
The helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd., took off from Badrinath at around 1.14 pm for Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun, carrying five passengers and a pilot, but crashed near Joshimath. It was flying amid snowfall when contact was lost near Hathi Parvat, close to Joshimath.
The passengers have been identified as Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K. and H.S. Natraja, all were Bengaluru residents. The pilot was Capt. Himanshu from Delhi.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had earlier confirmed the crash near Chhai village, close to Joshimath, and said a joint rescue operation involving the district administration, Disaster Management Department and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) was underway.
“District administration, the Disaster Management Department and the SDRF are jointly conducting the rescue operation. I am continuously monitoring the situation,” Dhami said in a post on X. He added that officials had been instructed to airlift anyone seriously injured to a higher medical centre for treatment.
The helicopter, operated under call sign VT-HCX, had taken off from Badrinath and was bound for Sahastradhara in Dehradun. The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) said it lost communication with the aircraft while it was flying over the Joshimath valley, after which its tracking system also stopped registering the helicopter.
There were differing accounts of the take-off time, with UCADA reporting that the helicopter took off at around 1.14 pm, while another account put the departure time at about 2.15 pm.
The Army had alerted the Chamoli district magistrate to a possible crash near Hathi Parvat, following which teams from the Army, district administration and SDRF were mobilised.
The mountainous terrain around Joshimath and snowfall in the area complicated the search and rescue operation.
Prateek Jain, chief executive officer of the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA), said the aircraft was a charter helicopter bound for Dehradun. “We track the live location of every helicopter. After it took off from Badrinath, we lost its tracking signal over the Joshimath valley and were unable to trace it thereafter,” Jain said.
In a statement, UCADA said the helicopter, registration number VT-HCX, had been reported missing while flying from Badrinath to Sahastradhara. It said the aircraft took off at approximately 13:14 hours. The entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd. had been grounded as a precautionary measure.
The helicopter had been carrying the five pilgrims after their visit to Badrinath, one of the four revered Hindu pilgrimage sites known as the Char Dham.
Officials did not say whether the aircraft had encountered a specific technical problem or how the snowfall may have affected the flight.
Uttarakhand’s helicopter safety record: A timeline of crashes and close calls
2010 June 12: Rotor blade accident involving Prabhatam Aviation kills one.
2013 (Disaster Year) June: Relief helicopter crashes in Kedarnath, killing the pilot.
June 21: Private chopper crash near Garudchatti claims two lives.
June 25 : IAF MI-17 rescue helicopter crash kills 20 personnel.
July 24: Another Kedarnath crash kills pilot and engineer.
2016 Helicopter narrowly avoids crash as door opens mid-air during take-off.
2017 June 10 : Crash during take-off at Badrinath Dham kills chief engineer.
2018 April 3: Army chopper crashes into power lines; all survive.
2019 Multiple emergency landings due to technical issues.
August 21: Crash in Arakot kills three, including pilot.
August 23: Emergency landing in Arakot injures pilot.
September 23: Crash landing at Kedarnath injures seven.
2022 October 18: Kedarnath-bound helicopter crashes after Garudchatti, killing seven.
2023 April 23: UCAADA Finance GM Amit Saini fatally struck by tail rotor at Kedarnath.
October 2 : Emergency landing of helicopter with five pilgrims; no injuries.
2024 May 24: Helicopter from Sirsi to Kedarnath makes emergency landing; all safe.
2025 May 8: Chopper crashes near Gangnani en route to Gangotri; six dead, including pilot.
June 7: Technical snag forces emergency landing; five pilgrims safe, pilot injured.
2026 : Oct 30 : Badrinath chopper crash , 6 dead
