A helicopter on its way to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district on Saturday after developing a technical snag during takeoff, officials said. All pilgrims on board and the pilot were safe.
Six people on board the helicopter including the pilot had a narrow escape.
A helicopter on its way to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district on Saturday after developing a technical snag during take-off, officials said. However, all pilgrims on board and the pilot are safe, the officials said. The helicopter had taken off from Badasu base for Kedarnath when it made the emergency landing shortly after take-off on the main road just below the highway near Sirsi following a technical snag during take-off, they said. Videos on social media showed the Kestrel Aviation helicopter standing in the middle of the highway, dangerously close to populated buildings with a parked car damaged by its tail rotor.
Six people on board the helicopter including the pilot had a narrow escape. The pilot sustained minor injuries and was rushed to a hospital. People on the ground got scared as they saw the helicopter getting imbalanced in the air and crashlanding on the road, eyewitnesses said.
Kedarnath heli service nodal officer Rahul Chaubey said the incident had not affected the heli shuttle service to the Himalayan temple. Police issued an appeal to pilgrims going to Kedarnath by road to stay wherever they were as removing the helicopter from the highway and unblocking it could take some time.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said Kestrel Aviation’s AW119 (Reg. VT-RNK) helicopter, piloted by Capt R P S Sodhi, experienced a hard landing on the road adjacent to the Barasu helipad. According to initial inputs, shortly after takeof
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