A major accident was narrowly averted near Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand when a heli ambulance from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh, dispatched to airlift a patient suffering from respiratory distress, made an emergency landing near the Kedarnath helipad.
The incident occurred at around 11:30 a.m.
All three individuals on board, including a doctor and a nurse, were unharmed. However, the helicopter’s tail rotor was damaged during the emergency landing.
This incident comes just days after a helicopter en route to Gangotri Dham crashed in the Gangnani area of Uttarkashi district, killing six people.
Rahul Chaubey, Rudraprayag district tourism officer and nodal officer for heli services in Kedarnath, said, “The incident occurred near Kedarnath Dham when a Sanjeevani heli ambulance was forced to make an emergency landing. It was scheduled to land at the Kedarnath helipad to airlift a woman patient, identified as Sri Dev, who was experiencing respiratory distress and required immediate medical attention. As the helicopter approached the helipad, it developed a technical snag. The pilot had to perform an emergency landing near the helipad. All three individuals on board, including a doctor, escaped without injury.”
{{/usCountry}}Rahul Chaubey, Rudraprayag district tourism officer and nodal officer for heli services in Kedarnath, said, “The incident occurred near Kedarnath Dham when a Sanjeevani heli ambulance was forced to make an emergency landing. It was scheduled to land at the Kedarnath helipad to airlift a woman patient, identified as Sri Dev, who was experiencing respiratory distress and required immediate medical attention. As the helicopter approached the helipad, it developed a technical snag. The pilot had to perform an emergency landing near the helipad. All three individuals on board, including a doctor, escaped without injury.”
{{/usCountry}}“During the emergency landing, the helicopter’s tail rotor was damaged,” he added.
He further stated that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will conduct a thorough technical investigation to determine the exact cause of the malfunction.
On May 24 last year, a helicopter operated by Kestrel Aviation carrying six pilgrims also made an emergency landing near the Kedarnath helipad. Days later, on August 31, when the same chopper was being airlifted to Gauchar in Chamoli district for repairs by an Indian Air Force MI-17 helicopter, it crashed near Lincholi by the Mandakini River in Rudraprayag district after the towing rope snapped.
In another incident in April 2023, a senior official of the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) died after being struck by the tail rotor of a helicopter in Kedarnath.
In October 2022, a helicopter crash in Kedarnath claimed the lives of six devotees and the pilot. Following that tragedy, UCADA requested the DGCA to establish an air traffic control system in the Kedarnath region to monitor heli services. During the Char Dham Yatra season, helicopters conduct an average of 400 sorties per day in the Kedarnath area.