A helicopter belonging to Aryan Aviation, flying from Kedarnath Dham to Guptkashi, has crashed in the jungles of Gaurikund, leading to the deaths of 7 people, including the pilot. This is the fifth helicopter crash in the state in the last six weeks. A high-level emergency meeting is currently underway in Dehradun to review the circumstances surrounding the tragic helicopter crash that occurred early Sunday morning in the Kedar Valley, Uttarakhand.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is chairing the meeting, which includes top officials such as the Chief Secretary, Secretary of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Secretary of Disaster Management, and representatives from the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and the Directorate of Information.
Several field officials also attended the meeting via video conferencing. The meeting aims to assess preliminary details of the crash, review safety protocols, and ensure a swift, coordinated response. Following the crash, helicopter services operating in the Char Dham region have been suspended until further notice. The decision was jointly taken by UCADA (Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority) and DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation). Passengers on board the helicopter included Rajveer, the pilot; Vikram Rawat; Vinod; Trishti Singh; Rajkuma; Shraddha; and Rashi, a 10-year-old girl. The chopper took off at 05:17 am to Guptkashi and was returning from Kedarnath after picking up passengers when it went off course due to poor weather conditions in the Kedarnath valley.
Officials confirmed that the weather in the region was severely bad, which reportedly caused the helicopter to lose its way. Following the crash, SDRF teams under the leadership of Commandant Arpan Yaduvanshi were immediately dispatched to the crash site, located in a densely forested and remote area. SDRF, NDRF, and local police swiftly carried out joint rescue operations.
