Helicopter carrying six pilgrims in Kedarnath makes emergency landing
Today at around 7am, a helicopter of Kestrel Aviation company, carrying six passengers along with a pilot, took off from Sirsi for Kedarnath Dham
Dehradun: A major accident was averted early on Friday after a helicopter carrying seven people, including six pilgrims and the pilot, made an emergency landing after it developed a technical snag while trying to land at the helipad at Kedarnath shrine.
“Today at around 7am, a helicopter of Kestrel Aviation company, carrying six passengers along with a pilot, took off from Sirsi for Kedarnath Dham. Due to a technical snag in the helicopter, the chopper had to make an emergency landing some distance from the Kedarnath helipad,” said Rudraprayag district magistrate Dr Saurabh Gaharwar.
Gaharwar said that all the passengers on board were safe.
“The pilot did not lose his patience and showed wisdom and made an emergency landing of the helicopter,” he added.
He said the reason for the technical fault in the helicopter is being investigated.
In April 2023, a senior official of the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) died after being hit by the tail rotor of a helicopter in Kedarnath.
In October 2022, a chopper crashed in Kedarnath, killing six devotees and the pilot. After the crash, the UCADA had written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to set up an air traffic control system in Kedarnath to monitor the operation of heli services in the area.
In Kedarnath, during the Char Dham yatra, choppers make a daily average of 400 sorties.
