India is reeling from yet another aviation tragedy after a helicopter carrying Hindu pilgrims crashed in the early hours of the morning in Uttarakhand, leaving all seven people on board dead.
The chopper, operated by Aryan Aviation, had departed from the sacred Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath and was en route to Guptkashi when it went down around 5:30 a.m. in a heavily forested, mountainous area, reportedly several miles off its scheduled path.
According to Instablog9ja, authorities suspect that adverse weather conditions played a major role in the crash, though a full investigation is still underway.
Emergency teams have reached the remote crash site to carry out recovery operations, while aviation officials are reassessing flight safety measures in the region’s challenging terrain.
This latest incident comes just days after the country was shaken by a far deadlier catastrophe: the Air India crash in Ahmedabad, one of the worst in recent memory. That crash, involving a London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner, killed at least 270 people, including 29 residents on the ground, when the aircraft struck a residential area shortly after takeoff. Only one passenger survived out of 242 on board.
In response to the Ahmedabad disaster, India’s aviation regulators have launched emergency safety inspections on all Air India Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft equipped with GEnx engines. The review will focus on takeoff protocols, fuel systems, and onboard electronics to prevent further tragedies.
With back-to-back aviation incidents raising alarm, questions are mounting over air safety regulations, especially in difficult-to-navigate zones like Uttarakhand. Many are calling for stricter weather-related flight restrictions and improved infrastructure at remote helipads serving religious sites.
