Helicopter on way to Kedarnath crash-lands on highway in Rudraprayag

A helicopter on its way to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on a highway in Rudraprayag district on Saturday after developing a technical snag during take-off, officials said.

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However, all pilgrims on board and the pilot are safe, the officials said.

The helicopter had taken off from Badasu base for Kedarnath when it made the emergency landing on the main road just below the highway near Sirsi following a technical snag during take-off, they said.

Videos on social media showed the Kestrel Aviation helicopter standing in the middle of the highway, dangerously close to populated buildings with a parked car damaged by its tail rotor.

Six people on board the helicopter, including the pilot, had a narrow escape.

The pilot sustained minor injuries and was rushed to a hospital.

People on the ground got scared as they saw the helicopter getting imbalanced in the air and crash-landing on the road, eyewitnesses said.

Kedarnath heli service nodal officer Rahul Chaubey said the incident had not affected the heli shuttle service to the Himalayan temple.

Efforts were under way to remove the helicopter from the highway.

Police have issued an appeal to pilgrims going to Kedarnath by road to stay wherever they are as removing the helicopter from the highway and unblocking it could take some time.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said Kestrel Aviation’s AW119 (Reg. VT-RNK) helicopter, piloted by Capt R P S Sodhi, experienced a hard landing on the road adjacent to the Barasu helipad.

According to initial inputs, shortly after the take-off from the helipad, the pilot reported a suspected issue with the collective control getting stuck. In response, he executed a controlled force landing on the road near the helipad.

All passengers are safe and unharmed, it said.

The pilot has been taken to hospital for evaluation due to complaints of backache.

The helicopter took off at 12.52 pm from Badasu (Sersi) helipad and landed immediately on the main road just below the helipad.

A team is being sent to the spot for onsite assessment, the DGCA said.

The hard landing of the helicopter on Saturday comes just about a month after another private helicopter on its way to Gangotri temple crashed near Gangnani in Uttarkashi district on May 8, killing six people, including five women and the pilot, and leaving one male passenger seriously injured.