Char Dham Flights Suspended Post-Gangotri Crash, Evacuations Continue

Six persons, including the pilot, were killed in a fatal helicopter crash near Gangnani in Uttarkashi district on May 8; one person was critically injured. When the helicopter crashed, it was on its way to the Gangotri temple.

Officials say the collision happened over the Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway at approximately 8:45 a.m. The private company's chopper had taken off from Dehradun's Sahastradhara helipad and was its route to Kharsali helipad before continuing on to Gangotri. According to the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), it crashed into a gorge that was between 200 and 250 meters deep.

Five of the seven individuals who perished were female. The pilot, who also died, was identified as a Gujarati native from Vadodara.

As a precaution after the event, the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) declared that the Char Dham Yatra helicopter services will be suspended immediately. Helicopter services would only be used to evacuate stranded pilgrims from the yatra routes, according to UCADA at the time.

The Uttarakhand administration subsequently acknowledged that the Char Dham Yatra's helicopter services had restarted and were running without a hitch. Adverse weather conditions were the reason for the temporary suspension, according to a report by news agency ANI, and regular operations have since resumed.