After six people onboard a Kedarnath Dham-bound helicopter had a narrow escape when it made an emergency landing on a highway in Rudraprayag on June 7, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday suspended two operators, including Kestrel Aviation, for SOP violations.
The DGCA has also decided to intensify safety supervision of helicopter operations in Uttarakhand, including conducting live monitoring and surprise audits, news agency PTI reported.
Four crashes in a month
According to a PTI report, the last one month alone has seen four crashes. A private helicopter had to make an emergency landing in Guptkashi of Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district due to a technical fault on Saturday.
All the passengers on board the helicopter, en route to Kedarnath Dham, were safe. The helicopter belonged to Kestrel Aviation Private Limited. It made a precautionary landing on the road instead of a helipad.
The DGCA said Kestrel Aviation’s AW119 (Reg. VT-RNK) helicopter, piloted by Capt RPS Sodhi, experienced a hard landing on the road adjacent to the Barasu helipad.
The hard landing of the helicopter on Saturday comes just about a month after another private helicopter on its way to Gangotri temple crashed near Gangnani in Uttarkashi district on May 8, killing six people including five women and the pilot, and leaving one male passenger seriously injured.
On May 12, a helicopter returning from Badrinath to Sersi with pilgrims on board was forced to make an emergency landing due to poor visibility in a school playground in Ukhimath. All pilgrims were safe. The helicopter took off again after about an hour when the weather improved, PTI reported.
On May 17, a heli ambulance from AIIMS Rishikesh crash-landed near the Kedarnath helipad in Uttarakhand due to damage to its rear part. Fortunately, all three occupants on board – a doctor, a pilot and a medical staff member – escaped unharmed.
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