In brief
A helicopter that departed from Badrinath on a snowy afternoon lost contact near the Hathi Parvat area and crashed close to Chayee village, killing all six occupants, including the pilot. Uttarakhand officials have pledged a detailed investigation before deciding whether to resume shuttle and charter operations for the season. The incident has prompted condolences from the state’s chief minister and an official inquiry into the cause of the crash.
A helicopter carrying six people, including the pilot, crashed near Chayee village in Uttarakhand on Friday, killing everyone aboard.
The aircraft had departed from Badrinath, a Hindu pilgrimage town, at about 1:14 p.m. local time amid snowfall and disappeared from radar near the Hathi Parvat area before it was found crashed close to the village in Chamoli district, roughly 290 kilometres northeast of Dehradun.
Chief Executive Officer of the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority, Prateek Jain, confirmed that all six individuals on board the helicopter – the pilot and five passengers – had died in the accident.
"A detailed investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the accident, and based on those findings, a decision will be made regarding how shuttle and charter operations will proceed for the remainder of the season," Jain said.
“A detailed investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the accident, and based on those findings, a decision will be made regarding how shuttle and charter operations will proceed for the remainder of the season.”
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives in the accident and instructed officials to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident.
Officials from the regional aviation authority are coordinating with emergency services and flight recorders to identify the factors that led to the loss of the aircraft. The investigation will examine weather conditions, mechanical systems, and crew actions as the helicopter was operating amid ongoing snowfall in the mountainous region.
Until the investigation concludes, no definitive cause has been identified, and it remains unclear whether pilot error, mechanical failure, or environmental factors directly contributed to the crash. The authority’s statement indicates that no decision has yet been made on whether to resume or modify shuttle and charter services for the rest of the season.
There are no additional reports of casualties or survivors at this time, and the crash site has not yet been released to the public. The investigation remains ongoing, and more details are expected to emerge as authorities analyze evidence gathered from the wreckage and flight data recordings.
Despite the initial statements of condolence and the pledge of an in‑depth investigation, the publicly available information does not yet clarify the exact cause of the crash, and all unanswered questions about the incident remain subjects for the ongoing inquiry.
