Helicopter being airlifted by MI-17 chopper crashes in Kedarnath

Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) [India], August 31 (ANI): A helicopter, which was being airlifted by MI-17 aircraft to Gauchar airstrip for repair work, crashed in Kedarnath on Saturday, officials said.

While lifting the helicopter in need of repair work, the MI-17 plane started losing its balance and sensing danger its pilot dropped the helicopter into an empty space in the the valley.

“The plan was to take the helicopter to Gauchar airstrip on Saturday, with the help of MI-17 aircraft, for repair. As soon as it covered a little distance, the MI-17 started losing balance due to the weight of the helicopter and wind, due to which the helicopter had to be dropped near Tharu camp,” District Tourism Officer Rahul Chaubey said.

There was no passenger or luggage on the helicopter, said the official adding that a rescue team reached the spot as soon as information of the incident was received. “The team is inspecting the situation, ” Chaubey said.

Rahul Chaubey stated that on May 24 this private helicopter landed in an emergency situation some distance away from the Kedarnath helipad due to some technical faults.

The SDRF team has reached the spot of crash and relief work is going on.

There has been no loss of life in this incident.

Earlier on August 24, in Pune a private helicopter belonging to an aviation company crashed near Paud village while en route from Mumbai to Hyderabad.

The helicopter had four people on board, including the captain. Following the crash, the captain sustained injuries and was immediately hospitalized. The remaining three passengers are reported to be in stable condition,” according to SP Pankaj Deshmukh of the Pune Rural Police.

The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation, and authorities are currently assessing the situation for any further developments.