A couple and their two-year-old daughter, hailing from Yavatmal in Maharashtra, were among the seven persons killed after a helicopter crashed near the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand on Sunday, June 15. The helicopter took off from Kedarnath Dham for Guptkashi around 5.30 am and crashed soon after above the forests of Gaurikund.
Five pilgrims, the pilot and an employee of the Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee, were among those killed, officials told PTI. The deceased included Rajkumar Jaiswal, a transport businessman; his wife Shraddha; and their two-year-old daughter Kashi, who hails from Yavatmal. Former Wani MLA Vishvas Nandekar told reporters.
Jaiswal along with his family members had left from Wani in Yavatmal on June 12 to visit the Lord Kedarnath temple, as per their family friends. The crash site is located nearly 5 km above Gaurikund known as Gauri Mai Khark. Sources said the chopper belonging to Aryan Aviation Pvt Ltd crashed between Gaurikund and Trijuginarayan in Kedarghati and caught fire.
Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said zero visibility caused by bad weather apparently led to the crash. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will probe the helicopter crash, a statement issued by the civil aviation ministry said. The chopper crash comes days after an Air India flight to London crashed in Ahmedabad, killing 241 persons on board and several others on the ground.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday expressed grief over the tragic helicopter crash in Rudraprayag district.
In his message on X, he wrote, "Deeply pained by the tragic accident where passengers lost their lives in a helicopter crash near Gaurikund in Uttarakhand this morning while travelling from Kedarnath to Guptkashi. Among the victims were devotees from Maharashtra as well. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families. We stand in solidarity with all those affected."
STIC Travel Group Chairman & Aviation Expert Subhash Goyal said, "The helicopter involved was a Bell helicopter, which is a safe helicopter. It operates on the route from Guptkashi to Kedarnath and returns afterward. On its return journey, the helicopter was being flown by Rajbir Singh, a highly experienced pilot and ex-army personnel. There was no fault in the helicopter or the pilot. It was purely a weather-related issue."