A Trans Bharat Aviation helicopter carrying five passengers from Bengaluru and one pilot crashed near Chai village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. All six individuals on board are assumed dead as search and rescue teams navigate adverse weather conditions to reach the wreckage.
A helicopter carrying five passengers from Bengaluru and the pilot crashed near Chai village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Friday (October 30). Officials said the wreckage of the airplane was found near Joshimath and all six individuals on board are assumed dead.
The chopper belonging to Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd was on its way from Badrinath to Dehradun and went off contact while flying above Joshimath valley. Search and rescue activity in the mountainous terrain was allegedly impeded by adverse weather conditions.
Who Were the Passengers on the Helicopter?
The five passengers have been identified as Arun Salunke, H S Nagaraja, Prathapa Bachihally Ningarajan, Sudheer K and Shankargowda VB. According to reports, all five were residents of Bengaluru.
The pilot was identified as Captain Himanshu Sabharwal. The aircraft, bearing registration number VT-HCX, reportedly took off from Badrinath at around 1:14 PM. It was scheduled to land at Sahastradhara heliport in Dehradun.
Rescue Operations Underway
Two more helicopters have been sent to identify the debris while teams of Indian Army, Chamoli district administration and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been mobilized and rushed to the likely crash site.
The reason of the occurrence has not been discovered yet. The area has been experiencing heavy rains and cloud cover with some places reporting snow precipitation. “The helicopter was allowed to fly after favorable weather conditions were noticed,” stated Prateek Jain, CEO, Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA). As a precautionary measure, the entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation has been grounded, officials said.
Uttarakhand CM’s Reaction
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirmed a helicopter crash near Chayi village in the Joshimath area and said the district administration, Disaster Management Department and SDRF were jointly carrying out rescue operations. Dhami said he was monitoring the situation and had directed officials to immediately airlift seriously injured passengers to higher medical centres for treatment.
“I have received the unfortunate news of a helicopter crash near Chayi village, Joshimath. The district administration, Disaster Management Department and SDRF are jointly carrying out a rescue operation,” he said in a post on X.