Kedarnath crash: Helipcopter operator among 5 fined for lapses in June

Aryan Aviation, the firm that operated the helicopter that crashed near the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand on Tuesday, killing all on board, was fined by the aviation regulator in June this year for violating norms, officials aware of the matter said.

“Aryan Aviation was one of the five operators fined for violating norms like non-adherence to maintenance schedule and fake logging,” a civil aviation ministry official said, asking not to be named.

Seven people, including the pilot, in the Bell 407 helicopter ferrying pilgrims from Kedarnath to Guptkashi in Rudraprayag district were killed on Tuesday. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation fined five helicopter operators flying to Kedarnath ₹5 lakh each after a three-day audit conducted on June 13-16 found they were violating several rules.

They were allowed to continue operations after they took corrective measures, according to DGCA.

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

All helicopter flights to the Kedarnath temple have been suspended till further notice. “The accident took place possibly due to bad weather,” a DGCA official said on condition of anonymity. “However, we have begun our investigation.”

“The helicopter crash in Kedarnath is extremely unfortunate. We are in touch with the state government to ascertain the magnitude of the loss, and are constantly monitoring the situation,” civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted.

After the audit in June, DGCA suspended officials of two other operators for three months each . The audit was conducted after a helicopter on May 30 landed dangerously. A video of the hard landing went viral on social media.

Seven out of the total nine operators flying to Kedarnath this year were in serious violation of rules and were fined by the regulator, HT previously reported. Five of them were fined by DGCA.

“The five operators were found not maintaining correct flying records in their respective helicopter technical logbooks. Also, the number of hours flown by a chopper on record was lower than the actual number of hours it operated,” the DGCA official said. “These serious violations had invited show-cause notices to all the seven operators, after which a hearing was conducted. Based on their responses, DGCA had fined (five of) them.”

Ongoing investigations will reveal what exactly happened in the chopper crash, said C Ravi Shankar, chief executive officer of Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority. “Pilots have to see safety aspects while flying when weather and visibility conditions are bad,” Shankar said. “But the probe will reveal exactly what happened there. District magistrate Rudraprayag has also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.”

As per rules, before the pilgrimage to the Char Dham, of which Kedarnath is one, starts in May, a safety coordination meeting is held at DGCA that is attended by all concerned officials and shortlisted helicopter operators. Safety issues on operations are discussed and addressed in the meeting, and the standard operating procedure is finalised.

A few days before the planned start of helicopter operations, the regulator conducts several site checks that include flight standards, airworthiness and air safety. After completing the inspection and receiving a satisfactory action taken report from the operators, DGCA grants approval to them to begin commercial operations.

This year, commercial operations started on May 5. Some 5 million pilgrims have undertaken the journey to the four shrines till XXX date, out of which XXX number availed helicopter services, according to XXX data source.

“Nine aviation operators are permitted to fly 72 hours per day, where one operator is being permitted to operate eight hours a day, which means that there is a huge load on the machines flying at such high altitudes, that too in difficult geographical terrain,” said Rajeev Dhar, an aviation consultant based in Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand.

“Moreover, the standby helicopters are used for chartered flights from Dehradun,” Dhar pointed out. “More helicopters should be roped in to avoid the excessive load on the existing operators.”

“The terrain of Kedarnath regions is very challenging and critical, and the weather changes very fast. This makes flying in that area a real challenge and demands very high skill and alertness,” said aviation expert Vipul Saxena, a former helicopter pilot. “As of now, this accident seems to be one such situation, which put the helicopter into a fatal accident.”