INEWS21 Dehradun Nov 1 Dehradun
Bodies of the deceased five devotees and the pilot killed in the helicopter crash on October 30 could not be brought to the nearest road for carrying them to their homes till Saturday evening despite all efforts by the rescue teams of NDRF, SDRF, ITBP and Indian Army. Indian army had recovered by all six bodies on the night of October 30 but could not took them to roadside for further action.
Six persons including pilot and five devotees died on October 30 as the helicopter they were onboard crashed on Hathi Parvat hill near Chai Village in Joshimath area. The single engine helicopter belonging to the air service provider was flying back from Badrinth to Dehradun when it crashed on the mountainous terrain of Joshimath Valley. Althugh no government body or other authority confirmed the deaths of the person onboard crashed helicopter it was revealed after Uttarakand chief miniter Pushkar Singh Dhami condoled their demise on his ‘X’ post late Saturday night. Bodies of the deceased persons were recovered by the Indian Army team following a massive search operation was launched to locate and rescue the victims from the debris of Ill-fated helicopter on Friday night. However carrying them to nearest (10-12 kilomters away) approach road for sending the bodies to their homes was rendered difficult due to darkness and inclement weather in the high altitudes of district Chamoli.
Officials of Chamoli district administration informed that rescue teams of SDRF, NDRF, ITBP and the Indian Army reached the tragedy site on Saturday again to resume the operation. “The rescue teams were trying hard to bring the bodies to the road through the difficult mountainous terrain with utter cautions and attention as they were severely mutilated rendering the rescue operation more dfficult. The rescue teams were working with extreme caution keeping safety and the tough geographical conditions in mind” informed an official from district administration on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile after Uttarakhand chief minister ordered probe in the helicopter mishap a team of experts from Directorte General Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) arrived in Uttarakhand to investigate the accident. Exact cause of the accident will be known only after the investigation report is out.
This was the first helicopter crash that took place in last leg of Chardham Pilgrimage 2026 compared to five helicopter accidents in 2025. Two of these helicopter crashes resulted into the death of 13 persons in Uttarkashi and Kedarnath Valley while no lives were lost in three other mishaps limited to the damages of flying machines during emergency landings.
It’s significant that helicopter crash was first confirmed by Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) on Friday afternoon as an statement issued by it read, “Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd’s helicopter bearing call sign VT-HCX, operating from Badrinath to Sahastradhara Dehradun, which took off at approximately 13:14 hours, has been reportedly missing. The helicopter lost communication when it was flying over Joshimath Valley. At the same time, the tracking system could no longer track the helicopter and its current location was not ascertained.” UCADA added in its note that teams of the Indian Army, District Administration Chamoli and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were mobilised and dispatched to initiate search and rescue operations immediately on the receipt of information about the tragedy. UCADA stated that persons onboard the helicopter included five devotees and the pilot identified as Captain Himanshu Sabarwal. Missing devotees were identified as Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K and HS Natraja.
UCADA note further mentioned “entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation Private Limited has been grounded for now.”
“No sooner information as to crash of a civil helicopter, flying back from Badrinath to Sahastradhara, on Hathi Parvat area reached relief and rescue operations were launched with the help of various agencies” said Uttarakhand disaster management department in a release issued by it. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed the concerned officials to take up relief and rescue operations on a war footing to ensure the utilisation of all available resources. Following this “teams of SDRF, Indian Army, ITBP, NDRF, Police, and district administration were dispatched to the crash site and search and rescue operation was taken up on the ground.
Uttarakhand secretary Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman, stated that army’s signal center team was the first to observe smoke rising from the helicopter in that area and saw it falling down rapidly. He said that besides deployment of rescue teams all concerned agencies and medical institutions including Base Hospital Srinagar, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh and other relevant health centers were put on alert for relief and rescue operations.
ENDS
