Six die as helicopter crashes near Joshimath after Badrinath take-off

• Six people die after a Trans Bharat Aviation helicopter crashes near Joshimath while flying from Badrinath to Dehradun.

• The aircraft loses contact over the Joshimath valley amid adverse weather; bodies are located but yet to be recovered.

• Authorities ground Trans Bharat Aviation's fleet as rescue teams reach the crash site.

All six people aboard a helicopter that crashed into a hillside near Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday, 30 October have died, with their bodies located but yet to be recovered, police said.

The helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd, was flying from Badrinath to Dehradun when it crashed near Marwari Bridge, close to the J.P. Power House, at around 2.20 pm, officials said.

The aircraft had taken off from Badrinath at around 1.14 pm for Sahastradhara heliport in Dehradun. It lost communication while flying over Joshimath valley, following which its tracking system stopped showing its location, according to the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA).

The helicopter was reportedly returning after ferrying pilgrims to Badrinath Dham. The six people on board were identified as Captain Himanshu and five male passengers — Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K. and H.S. Natraja. All five were from Bengaluru.

Chamoli superintendent of police Surjit Singh Panwar said the bodies had been located but had not yet been recovered from the crash site. Teams from the Chamoli district administration, police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were dispatched to the site for search and rescue operations.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said he was monitoring the situation and that a joint rescue operation was underway. He directed officials to ensure that any critically injured people were immediately airlifted to advanced medical facilities.

The crash occurred amid adverse weather conditions in the region. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an orange alert for Chamoli on Friday, warning of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hail and gusty winds of 40-50 kmph in isolated areas. Light to moderate rainfall was also forecast across the district, with rain and snowfall likely along the Badrinath-Joshimath route.

The difficult terrain and deteriorating weather conditions posed challenges for the rescue operation. The exact cause of the crash has not yet been established.

As a precautionary measure, authorities grounded the entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation following the accident.

The incident has once again brought helicopter safety on Uttarakhand's Char Dham pilgrimage routes into focus. The state has witnessed several fatal helicopter crashes in recent years, including the October 2022 accident near Garud Chatti on the Kedarnath route, in which all seven people aboard were killed.

The crashes have renewed concerns over the risks posed by unpredictable weather, poor visibility and challenging Himalayan terrain to helicopter operations during the pilgrimage season. Investigators are yet to determine whether weather conditions or any technical issue contributed to Friday's accident.

With PTI inputs