Joshimath, 30 October (H.S.): A helicopter operated by Trans Bharat Aviation, which was flying from Badrinath Dham to the Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun, crashed near Chai village in Joshimath, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, on Friday. The aircraft was carrying six people, including the pilot and five passengers.

The district administration, the Army and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) jointly launched a search and rescue operation following the incident.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirmed receiving information about the helicopter crash near Chai village in Joshimath. He said that the district administration, the Disaster Management Department and the SDRF were conducting a coordinated rescue operation. The Chief Minister added that he was personally monitoring the situation and had instructed officials to immediately airlift anyone seriously injured to advanced medical facilities for better treatment.

CM Dhami also expressed hope that all those on board would be found safe. Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) ordered the grounding of the entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation as a precautionary measure.

According to UCADA, the helicopter, bearing registration number VT-HCX, took off from Badrinath at approximately 1.14 pm on Friday for the Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun. As it reached the Joshimath valley, communication with the aircraft was lost, and its tracking system also stopped functioning. Authorities were subsequently unable to establish its precise location.

The pilot was identified as Captain Himanshu. The five passengers were named as Pratap, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudhir K. and H.S. Natraja. The Joshimath administration received information indicating that the helicopter was located near an Army camp above Chai village. Following this, SDRF teams from Joshimath and Pandukeshwar were dispatched to the site at around 2.24 pm.

UCADA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Prateek Jain said the helicopter had departed from Badrinath at 1.14 pm, bound for the Sahastradhara helipad. He explained that contact with the aircraft’s tracking system was lost while it was crossing the Joshimath valley.

Prateek Jain confirmed that six people, including the pilot, were on board. According to the passenger manifest, all five passengers were reportedly residents of Bengaluru. However, their identities and other particulars were still being verified.

He said that some information had also emerged from local sources, but none of those details had been officially confirmed at that stage. A search and rescue operation had been launched, with an Army unit deployed alongside the SDRF to assist in the effort.

At the time of the initial official update, authorities had not released detailed information regarding casualties or the condition of those on board.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar