A private helicopter, which was being carried by an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft for maintenance, crashed near Kedarnath, Uttarakhand, on Saturday. The helicopter, grounded after it developed a technical snag in May this year, was airlifted by IAF’s Mi-17 to the Gauchar airstrip for repair work when the crash occurred.

The Mi-17 aircraft lost its balance mid-air due to the heavy weight of the helicopter it was carrying, leaving the pilot with no option but to drop it in an open valley.

VIDEO | Uttarakhand: A defective helicopter, which was being air lifted from #Kedarnath by another chopper, accidentally fell from mid-air as the towing rope snapped, earlier today.#UttarakhandNews

(Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/yYo9nCXRIw

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 31, 2024

According to news agency ANI, District Tourism Officer Rahul Chaubey said that the Mi-17 aircraft was losing balance due to the weight and wind issues that forced an emergency drop of the helicopter.

“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,” Chaubey said.

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“There was no passenger or luggage on the helicopter. The rescue team reached the spot as soon as the information was received. The team is inspecting the situation,” he added.

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

Uttarakhand | A helicopter which was being airlifted by Mi-17 aircraft to Gauchar airstrip for repair work, crashes in Kedarnath. The helicopter which was being airlifted had to make an emergency landing due to a technical fault on 24th May 2024.

District Tourism Officer Rahul… pic.twitter.com/NXmkVS6mJa

— ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2024

The SDRF team has reached the site. Fortunately, there has been no loss of life in the incident.

“Today, the SDRF rescue team received information through police post-Lincholi that a faulty helicopter of a private company, which was being towed by another helicopter from Shri Kedarnath helipad to Gochar helipad, fell into the river at Lincholi near Tharu Camp. The SDRF team has reached the spot, and relief work is going on. There has been no loss of life in this incident. Search is being conducted by the SDRF team,” the team said.