Helicopter returning from Badrinath crashes near Joshimath amid bad weather

A helicopter carrying five pilgrims from Badrinath to Dehradun crashed near Chayee village close to Joshimath on Friday amid adverse weather conditions, Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said. The incident was reported amid deteriorating weather conditions in the region.File photo: Devotees queue outside the Shri Badrinath Dham temple to offer prayers (PTI)Dheeraj Karki, district information officer, Chamoli, said the helicopter was returning from Badrinath Dham when contact with it was lost. The helicopter had six people on board, including pilot Capt Himanshu and five passengers- Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K and HS Natraja.Helicopter lost contact amid bad weatherThe helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd and bearing call sign VT-HCX, took off from Badrinath at around 1.14 pm for Sahastradhara in Dehradun, according to the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA).The aircraft lost communication while flying over the Joshimath valley, following which its tracking system also stopped showing its location.As a precautionary measure, the entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd was grounded, it added.Rescue teams deployedFollowing the incident, teams of the Indian Army, Chamoli district administration and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were mobilised and dispatched to carry out search and rescue operations, UCADA said. The search and rescue operation are underway. Chief minister Dhami said he was closely monitoring the situation.District disaster management officer of Chamoli, Nand Kishore Joshi said the helicopter, which was returning to Dehradun after taking pilgrims for darshan at Badrinath Dham, met with an accident near Chayee village.“A helicopter returning to Dehradun with pilgrims after darshan at Badrinath Dham has crashed near Chayee village in the Jyotirmath (previously Joshimath area) of Chamoli district. Its contact was lost near the hill close to Chayee village in the Marwari area of Joshimath,” Joshi said.He said a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team from Joshimath had been dispatched to the crash site to carry out search and rescue operations.“An SDRF team from Joshimath has left for the crash site for search and rescue operation,” Joshi said. Officials were also coordinating efforts to reach the crash site in the mountainous terrain.