All Six Aboard Helicopter Killed Near Joshimath, Chamoli District Magistrate Says

All six people aboard a helicopter that crashed near Joshimath in India’s Uttarakhand state on October 30 died at the scene, Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar said. An Indian Army team that reached the site confirmed the fatalities. The aircraft was carrying five male passengers and one pilot on a flight from Badrinath to Sahastradhara in Dehradun. The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority said the Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd. helicopter, call sign VT-HCX, departed at approximately 1:15 p.m. Indian Standard Time and went missing around 2:20 p.m. Communication was lost over Joshimath valley, and the tracking system also stopped locating the aircraft. The authority said the operator’s entire fleet had been grounded as a precaution. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the reported crash was near Chai village by Joshimath. In his earlier statement on the rescue response, he said the district administration, disaster-management department and State Disaster Response Force were working jointly. “I am continuously monitoring the entire incident,” Dhami said. District administration, police, Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police teams were also dispatched to the area. Disaster-management officials placed the crash on a hillside near JP Power House at Marwari Bridge.