Flying blind in the Himalayas

Lt Col. Rajveer Singh Chouhan (retd) probably didn’t expect 15 June to be any different. An experienced pilot, he had flown this Himalayan route before — taking pilgrims on a brief, breathtaking journey from Kedarnath to Guptkashi. That morning, seven people boarded his Aryan Aviation-operated Bell 407 helicopter, families with children, including a toddler. At 5.19 am, they lifted off into the quiet mountain air. Ten minutes later, they were gone.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing the aircraft veer slightly before striking a tree and bursting into flames. The cause, many pilots believe, was a weather event known locally as the ‘Rambara Express’ — a sudden, dense fog that forms rapidly in the high Himalayas, reducing visibility to near zero.

The narrow, twisting corridor through which Chouhan had to fly left little room for manoeuvrability, and the dense fog hid the Rambara bend.

This was not an isolated tragedy. In just six weeks, five helicopter accidents have rocked Uttarakhand. And that during the Char Dham Yatra — a season that draws millions of pilgrims. As the numbers climb, so do the risks, as the mountain skies pose a deadly gamble.

On 8 May, six people, including the pilot, died when the Bell 407 helicopter they were in crashed near Uttarkashi. The chopper was en route from Dehradun to Harsil and crashed into a hillside when the weather turned.

On 12 May, a helicopter blade struck a vehicle at Badrinath. No fatalities were reported.

On 17 May, an ambulance helicopter made an emergency landing in Kedarnath due to a technical snag. Fortunately, none of the passengers on board were hurt.

On 7 June, a Kestrel Aviation-owned chopper, flying from Rudrayprayag to Kedarnath, made an emergency landing due to a technical issue after take-off. The pilot, Captain R.P.S. Sodhi, managed to land the chopper safely on the highway next to the helipad.

According to a veteran pilot with decades of experience in mountain aviation, “This region demands sector-specific training and deep familiarity with the terrain. But that’s not happening.” Many private companies hire retired military pilots who, though experienced, often lack the nuanced skillset required for navigating these narrow, winding valleys.

Aviation experts are alarmed that the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) has allowed these chopper services to operate without basic requirements. Helicopters here fly without a radar, real-time weather updates or an air traffic control. Pilots rely on eyesight and radio chatter to navigate and assess weather conditions. This is flying in its rawest, riskiest form.

Alarmed by the recent spate of accidents, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has clamped down on the number of sorties for each dham. (Kedarnath was witnessing between 250–300 sorties per day.)

Raman Jeet Singh, wife of Captain Anil Singh who died in a crash in 2022, believes these are not ‘freak’ accidents. “My husband flew without radar, without terrain mapping and in unpredictable weather. Until Kedarnath gets proper aviation systems and strict SOPs, pilots will keep flying blind and dying,” she told a local media house.

The safety situation in Uttarakhand is in sharp contrast to the highly regulated offshore helicopter services operating out of Mumbai High where 12–15 twin-engine helicopters undertake up to 30 sorties daily, flown by experienced ex-military pilots under stringent entry requirements, safety protocols and real-time weather monitoring.

Despite 24x7x365 operations, flying is suspended if visibility drops below 1,000 metres or conditions at base or destination fall below the minimum prescribed. Contracts are awarded competitively with significant penalties for ‘duty not carried out’, but pilot discretion is respected, and safety is non-negotiable.

Pilot unions and safety experts have asked for a halt to all operations in Uttarakhand to allow the different stakeholders — owners, pilots, commercial engineers, the DGCA and UCADA — to come together and establish stricter safety protocols.

Helicopter services came to Kedarnath in 2007-2008 when a few enterprising operators — Pawan Hans and Prabhatam Aviation among them — launched flights from Agustmuni, ferrying pilgrims to and from the Kedarnath helipad. It was around 2010-11 that the concept of the ‘Char Dham Circuit’ by helicopter took shape.

Ayush Joshi, a water management consultant who operates from Kedarnath and Badrinath, says over 40,000 pilgrims visit Kedarnath daily. The increased footfall coupled with cheap helicopter tickets has placed a huge demand on copter services. “A pony ride from Gaurikund to Kedarnath (Rs 4,000) costs more than the price of a one-way copter ticket (Rs 3,000),” he pointed out.

Since 2016, contracts for Kedarnath operations have been allocated through a tendering process, typically valid for three-year periods. The stretch between Guptkashi and Sitapur — referred to as the Guptkashi (GK) Valley — currently hosts nine operators, selected via a tender process.

Experts say that at the heart of the crisis is a flawed financial model. Helicopter operators sign short-term, high-pressure contracts where they must recover costs and turn a profit within three to four months — the duration of the yatra season. These are not large corporations but often small startups, putting together fleets of 40–50 helicopters with tight deadlines and tighter margins.

The contractual clauses of the tender documents are highly exploitative and could well explain why pilots are pushed to fly non-stop sorties.

Some of these contractual agreements require 10 free flying hours each season, with a Rs 2 lakh fine for non-compliance. Helicopters can only be withdrawn with written approval from UCADA’s CEO, at a penalty of Rs 20,000 per hour. For technical snags that need two-three days to fix, the penalty doubles, reaching a maximum of Rs 4 lakh on the third day. On Day 8, the contract is cancelled.

All ticket bookings are online throughthe UCADA, with three per cent towards Yatra Facilitation Charges to be paid by the shuttle operator. The operator forks out an additional Rs 5,000 per week as landing charges at all government-owned helipads. The UCADA rakes in the cash but in case of an accident, it bears no responsibility — legal or financial. All liabilities, including injury or death, rest solely with the operators.

Every pilot is expected to perform 50 landings a day. It’s a recipe for fatigue, mechanical failure and human error. “They’ve turned our pilots into machines,” said one aviation technician. “There’s no room for rest or caution — only targets and penalties.”

Collateral damage

These low-flying helicopter services are also harming local wildlife and endangered species like snow leopards, musk deer and the Himalayan tahr — all listed on the IUCN Red List. The region’s unique high-altitude flora including oak, chir and birch trees are also at risk.

Dehradun-based environmentalist Reenu Paul warns that “the frequent movement of choppers has been known to increase frequency of landslides and avalanches in this fragile ecosystem”.

Local shopkeepers in Kedarnath and Badrinath rue the fact that under the garb of redevelopment, their shops have been taken over by businessmen from outside. “The entire traditional architecture has been destroyed and a mall is being constructed in Badrinath,” said one local businessmen.

The National Green Tribunal had asked the state government to assess the carrying capacity of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. The report was never completed. The footfall has increased to a staggering and unsustainable six crore annually.

Already 80 people have died in this yatra, mainly elderly people, who did not give themselves enough time to acclimatise to these high altitudes.

An FIR has been filed against Aryan Aviation for negligence, and its operations suspended. But will this prompt real reform, or just more finger-pointing? When will safety become a non-negotiable part of the pilgrimage?