5 pilgrims, pilot escape narrowly after chopper crash-lands in Kedarnath

The pilot sensed some technical error in the chopper and soon after take off, he was trying to land, when the incident happened at a helipad in Rudraprayag district.

Five pilgrims and a pilot had a narrow escape when their helicopter met with an accident during take off, damaging its tail at the helipad in Rudraprayag district on Monday.

This is the third such chopper incident in Uttarakhand this year. (HT PHOTO.)

Mangesh Ghildiylal, district magistrate Rudraprayag, said that the helicopter couldn’t balance itself during take off due to which its tail was hit and it was grounded. “All five passengers and pilot are safe. We will prepare a report and send it to the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA), which will initiate an inquiry into the incident,” he said.

Harish Sharma, district disaster management officer of Rudraprayag said, “The helicopter did not exactly crash, but the tail of the chopper hit a railing while it was taking off from the Kedarnath helipad. The chopper had flown from the Phata helipad for Kedarnath and was on its way back.”

“The pilot sensed some technical error in the chopper and soon after take off, he was trying to land, when the incident happened,” Sharma added.

This is the third such incident in the state this year. On August 21, a helicopter carrying relief material for the victims of rain-affected areas Uttarkashi district crashed. All three people, who were on board died. Two days later, another helicopter carrying similar relief material made an emergency landing in the same district. The two people on board, including the pilot and co-pilot sustained injuries in the incident.