Helicopter makes emergency landing in Kedarnath after mid-air technical glitch

A private helicopter en route to Kedarnath Dham on Saturday (June 7) made an emergency landing in Guptkashi of Rudraprayag district due to a technical fault.

All the people on board the helicopter are safe. Uttarakhand's ADG Law and Order Dr V Murugeshan CEO of UCADA has informed that the helicopter of Crestel Aviation Private Limited, while flying from Sirsi with passengers, made a precautionary landing on the road instead of the helipad.

There is no report of any casualty. DGCA has been informed. The rest of the shuttle operations are going on normally as per schedule.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a statement. It said, “Kestrel Aviation’s AW119 helicopter, piloted by Captain RPS Sodhi, experienced a hard landing on the road adjacent to the Bharasu helipad earlier today. As per initial inputs, shortly after takeoff from the helipad, the pilot reported a suspected issue with the collective control getting stuck. In response, he executed a controlled force landing on the road near the helipad. All passengers are safe and unharmed. The pilot has been taken to the hospital for evaluation due to complaints of back pain.”