Helicopter Crash Near Joshimath Kills Pilot and Five Pilgrims from Badrinath

On a cloudy Friday afternoon, a privately operated helicopter carrying six individuals from Badrinath to Dehradun crashed into a hillside near Joshimath in Uttarakhand. The accident resulted in the deaths of all six onboard, comprising the pilot and five pilgrims from Karnataka, officials confirmed.

The helicopter lost contact just minutes after departing Badrinath, prompting a search operation. Administrative sources reported that the bodies were located near the wreckage in Chai village, but challenging terrain and fading light delayed their recovery until Saturday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an orange weather alert for the Chamoli district that day, warning of thunderstorms, lightning, hailstorms, and winds reaching 40 to 50 kilometers per hour. Such weather conditions likely complicated the flight and search efforts.

Authorities have deployed the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to probe the crash. A senior AAIB official stated that an investigative team is already en route to the scene to determine the cause of the accident.

According to Additional District Magistrate Vivek Prakash, the bodies will be transported to Joshimath town for post-mortem examinations scheduled on Saturday. Chamoli Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar provided a timeline of events, saying the helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation, took off from Badrinath at 13:12 hours. Contact was lost near Joshimath just two minutes later, at 13:14 hours, with the Army reporting the disappearance.

The District Emergency Operations Centre (DEOC) noted that the helicopter was spotted by an Army Signal Centre team over the Hathi Parvat area. The team observed smoke rising from the aircraft and noted it rapidly losing altitude before crashing.

The pilot was identified as Captain Himanshu Sabharwal, aged 48, from Delhi. The five passengers were pilgrims from Karnataka: H S Nataraja (51), Sudeer K (50), Arun Salunke (44), Prathapa Bachihalliy Ningarajan (41), and Shankargowda VB (39). Notably, Arun Salunke served as an inspector with Bengaluru Police's Central Crime Branch.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed sorrow over the tragedy and instructed officials to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the crash. He emphasized the need to thoroughly examine all factors involved and directed district authorities to offer full support to the bereaved families, ensuring relief and assistance are provided promptly.

The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) reported that communication with the helicopter ceased while it was flying over the Joshimath valley. The aircraft’s tracking system also stopped functioning at that point. The crash site lies approximately 45 kilometers from the Badrinath shrine, while the road distance to Dehradun is around 326 kilometers. Helicopter travel between Badrinath and Dehradun typically takes about an hour.

UCADA’s Chief Executive Officer Prateek Jain confirmed that following the accident, the entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd. was grounded as a precautionary safety measure.

Upon receiving information about the helicopter’s disappearance, joint teams comprising police, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and the Army from Pandukeshwar and Jyotirmath were immediately dispatched to the area to conduct search and rescue operations. Drone units from the district headquarters in Gopeshwar were also deployed to aid in locating the crash site.

Chief Minister Dhami held an emergency review meeting soon after the incident, ordering relief and rescue operations to proceed at full scale and ensuring all available resources are utilized effectively.

The DEOC reported that aerial reconnaissance was conducted by a UCADA reconnaissance helicopter and a Retriever helicopter, while an SDRF team moved from Sahastradhara to the site. Efforts to retrieve the bodies and investigate the crash are ongoing.

This year, the Badrinath shrine has seen over 2.15 million pilgrims since its gates opened in April. Tragically, 87 pilgrims visiting Badrinath have died in 2024. The temple is a key destination among the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit, which also includes Yamunotri, Gangotri, and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand’s Himalayan region.

Helicopter services for the Char Dham shrines are commonly offered as packages covering two or all four locations, costing between 100,000 to 115,000 rupees per person for two-shrine tours. In these packages, Badrinath is usually the final stop before the helicopter returns to Dehradun.

Data presented in the Rajya Sabha in July 2023 indicated that from 2020 to 2025, twelve accidents involving scheduled registered helicopters occurred, resulting in 30 fatalities. Of these, seven accidents happened in Uttarakhand. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has since increased surveillance and safety audits for helicopter services related to the Char Dham Yatra, as announced by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol.

The AAIB’s analysis revealed nine incidents in the Char Dham sector over the 2015 to 2025 period, including eight accidents and one serious incident, with at least one event every year since 2022. The year 2023 saw the highest number of accidents, including two fatal crashes.

This tragic event underscores the challenges of operating helicopter services in mountainous terrain, especially under adverse weather conditions. Authorities continue to investigate and review safety measures to prevent such accidents in the future.