Bodies of all six killed in Uttarakhand helicopter crash recovered

The bodies of all six people killed in a helicopter crash near Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district were recovered from the site on Saturday, a day after the aircraft went down in a remote mountainous area. The victims, including the pilot, were transported to Joshimath and are expected to be moved to AIIMS Rishikesh for post-mortem examinations on Sunday morning.

Rescue teams reached the crash site on foot from the Pandukeshwar side, navigating steep and difficult mountain paths. Officials cited the remote location, challenging terrain and weather conditions as factors that hampered the recovery operation.

The helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd and bearing the call sign VT-HCX, took off from Badrinath for the Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun at 1:14 pm on Friday. It disappeared from tracking near Pandukeshwar shortly after take-off.

Officials indicated that an investigation of the incident would consider multiple factors, including the black box and regulatory compliance, with entities such as the AAIB and DGCA involved in examining available data and pilot history.

The victims were identified as pilot Captain Himanshu Sabharwal, 48, of Delhi, and passengers Pratap, 41; Arun Salunke, 44; V B Shankar Gowda, 39; advocate Sudhir K, 50; and H S Nataraja, 51. All five passengers were from Karnataka, with Salunke noted as an inspector with the Karnataka Central Crime Branch and Nataraja described as the head of a Vidya Bharati educational institution.

Badrinath is part of Uttarakhand’s Char Dham pilgrimage circuit, which includes Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. The shrines are open to pilgrims for only a limited period each year before winter closure.