DGCA, AAIB technical teams reach Kedarnath to probe helicopter crash

The technical teams from the aviation regulator, directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) reached Devdarshini near Garud Chatti in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district on Wednesday to investigate the helicopter crash incident in which seven pilgrims lost their lives while returning from Kedarnath temple on Tuesday, officials said.

The chopper, a Bell 407 (VT-RPN) owned by the Delhi-based Aryan company, crashed into a hill, about 2km from the Kedarnath shrine, amid fog and poor visibility, and subsequently burst into flames around 11.35am. The incident prompted DGCA to launch an investigation, even as officials pointed out that the owner of the helicopter, Aryan Aviation, was fined by the aviation regulator after a hard-landing in May this year for violating norms.

“The (DGCA and AAIB) teams went to the crash site and investigated the area thoroughly and collected a few samples of the debris of the crashed helicopter on Wednesday,” NS Rajwar, district disaster management authority officer, Rudraprayag, said.

VK Singh, owner of Aryan Aviation, told HT on Tuesday that the accident was unfortunate, but he declined to comment on the pervious violations revealed by the regulator’s audit.

In August 2019, a chopper of Aryan Aviation Private Limited crashed after it hit apple cart cables in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district. Two people on board escaped with minor injuries. The incident prompted authorities to temporarily suspend chopper services in the area.

C Ravishankar, chief executive officer of the Uttarakhand civil aviation development authority (UCADA), said a magisterial inquiry has also been ordered into the incident. “The pilots operating the helicopters are highly qualified and will not fly in adverse weather conditions or in case the machine develops a technical snag. As the weather changes frequently in the Kedarnath valley, the sudden foggy condition might have affected the visibility forcing the pilot to attempt a return halfway, but we can come to any conclusion only after the final investigation report that will be done by the DGCA,” he said on Tuesday.

Nine aviation companies operate chopper services from Sirsi, Phata and Guptkashi to Kedarnath. Ten to twelve choppers are flown in a day to ferry devotees to the famous shrine in 10 minutes. The cost for travel to both sides is around ₹9,000.

The area has witnessed several civil and military helicopter accidents in the past as well.

On May 30 this, a chopper ferrying pilgrims to the high-altitude shrine made a hard landing at Kedarnath helipad. While no injuries were reported, the incident prompted DGCA to issue an advisory to all operators plying on the Char Dham pilgrimage routes.

It also conducted an audit and spot check of the choppers involved in shuttle operations in Kedarnath in June and two months later, imposed a penalty of ₹5 lakh each on five operators over irregularities in flying records. The civil aviation regulator further suspended officials of two other operators for three months over violation of safety regulations. DGCA did not provide details of the names of the firms which faced action.

Helicopter services resumed

Meanwhile, the helicopter services in the area, which was stopped after the incident until further orders by the state authorities, resumed on Wednesday morning.

“The investigations are going on and the helicopter service has been resumed for Kedarnath on Wednesday,” CEO of UCAD, C Ravishankar said.

After heli services resumed, the first aircraft carrying pilgrims landed in Kedarnath on Wednesday morning.

“We reached the shrine yesterday but after the tragic incident on Tuesday we thought of forsaking the heli trip but as it is difficult to walk for a long period I decided to use heli service chanting the Lord’s name,” said Amrita Arora, a pilgrim from Saket in Delhi.

Another pilgrim Raghu Singh from Rajasthan said, “We are still in dilemma whether to use the heli service or go down to Sonprayag on foot.”

The online registration for the heli service was full till the closure date of the portal of the Kedarnath shrine on October 28. Over 1.43 lakh pilgrims have used heli services in the Kedarnath area this year.

SPS Rawat, additional general manager, Char yatra at Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam in Rishikesh, said around 70 per cent of the seats for the heli services are booked through online registration while 30 per cent are kept for the walk-in pilgrims. “Heli services for the pilgrims who have registered online have been resumed and the officials involved in the preparation for the Prime Minister’s visit to Kedarnath scheduled for Friday are being allowed to avail the helicopter service.”

Over 1.4 lakh pilgrims have availed of the helicopter service so for Kedarnath Dham

The heli services are operated from three points at Sirsi, Fata and Gupt Kashi and the pilgrims pay ₹ 4,500 to ₹8,000 for a round trip to Kedarnath run by nine aviation operators active in the area.

This year a record number of over 42 lakh pilgrims have visited Char Dham shrines so far and the number is likely to reach around 45 lakh later this year.

Special prayers for victims

Meanwhile, Kedarnath temple priests offered special prayers on Wednesday at the shrine for the deceased pilgrims.

“It is a tragic incident and the temple priests expressing their grief over the helicopter crash offered special prayers on Wednesday for the departed souls,” said Vinod Shukla, a temple priest and president of the Kedar Sabha.

The priests have also demanded tighter restrictions for the heli service operators to avoid such incidents in the future.

“It was a horrific incident and we have prayed for peace for departed souls and solace to the aggrieved families,” said Anand Shukla, a temple priest and a member of the Kedar Sabha.