New Delhi: A helicopter carrying five pilgrims to the Kedarnath shrine made an emergency landing on a highway in Uttarakhand on Saturday. It developed a technical snag shortly after take-off. The pilot sustained minor injuries but the passengers onboard escaped unhurt. The incident has once again raised serious concerns over the safety of heli services operating along the Char Dham route.
The chopper, operated by a private company had taken off from the Barasu base helipad at 12:52 pm and was scheduled for a 45-50 minute flight to Kedarnath Dham. Minutes into the flight, the pilot reported a suspected issue with collective control system getting jammed. He conducted a controlled force landing on a nearby highway, narrowly avoiding nearby buildings. In the process, the tail rotor of the helicopter struck an unoccupied car, damaging the vehicle.
“The helicopter service to Kedarnath remains unaffected. Immediate efforts are being made to remove the aircraft from the highway,” said Rahul Chaubey, Kedarnath heli service nodal officer.
String of accidents involving tourists
On May 8, a chopper heading to the Gangotri temple crashed near Gangnani, Uttarkashi district. It took lives of six people including the pilot. Four days later, another helicopter returning from Badrinath to Sersi had to make an emergency landing in a school playground in Ukhimath due to poor visibility. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in that case.
On May 17, AIIMS Rishikesh medical chopper crash landed near the Kedarnath helipad. All the three occupants, however, survived without major injuries.
