Seven Dead In Kedarnath Helicopter Crash Amid Poor Weather
A tragic helicopter crash near the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand early Sunday (June 15) claimed the lives of all seven people on board, including six pilgrims and the pilot.
According to Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar, the accident occurred in the forested region above Gaurikund, where poor visibility due to adverse weather conditions is believed to have played a role.
The helicopter, operated by Aryan Aviation Pvt Ltd, took off from Kedarnath around 5:30 am en route to Guptkashi. It crashed shortly after take-off between Gaurikund and Trijuginarayan in the Kedarghati area and caught fire, sources said.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirmed the incident on X (formerly Twitter), stating that a helicopter had crashed near Kedarnath and that the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and other agencies were engaged in relief and rescue operations.
The crash is the latest in a series of recent aviation accidents in Uttarakhand, raising concerns over flight safety in the region’s challenging terrain and unpredictable weather. Just a week earlier, on June 7, another helicopter en route to Kedarnath was forced to make an emergency landing on a road shortly after take-off due to a technical fault. In that incident, the pilot was injured, but the five pilgrims on board were rescued safely.
This incident also comes in the wake of a much larger aviation tragedy that shook the country just days ago—the crash of an Air India flight in Ahmedabad, which resulted in the deaths of 241 people on board and several others on the ground. The ill-fated international flight, bound for London, went down shortly after take-off, making it one of the deadliest air disasters in recent Indian aviation history. The back-to-back nature of these crashes—first a major commercial flight and now a pilgrimage helicopter—has raised serious concerns about aviation safety, maintenance protocols, and operational preparedness, especially under challenging weather conditions.
In a similar helicopter crash on May 8 in Uttarkashi district, six people died while travelling to Gangotri Dham.
With Kedarnath being a major pilgrimage site attracting thousands of visitors during the Char Dham Yatra season, questions are being raised about the frequency and regulation of helicopter services operating in the region.
Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the crash and assessing safety protocols for future operations.
(With inputs from PTI)
