Kedarnath: A helicopter carrying seven people made an emergency landing due to a technical fault, approximately 100 meters away from the Kedarnath helipad. All six passengers and the pilot are safe.
Video footage shows the helicopter tail spinning just before making the emergency landing, while people near the helipad scramble for cover.
Narrow escape at #Kedarnath today as a helicopter operating Sersi- Kedarnath loses control, lands short of helipad; Crew, passengers safe pic.twitter.com/q18quYAfkN
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) May 24, 2024
“A helicopter of Kestrel Aviation Co., coming from Sirsi helipad to Kedarnath Dham, carrying six passengers along with a pilot, had to make an emergency landing approximately 100 meters before the helipad of Kedarnath Dham at around 7:05 a.m. due to some technical problem,” said the district disaster management officer of Rudraprayag.
This incident occurred amid the ongoing Char Dham Yatra, which began on May 10 with the opening of three of the four shrines, including Gangotri, Yamunotri, and Kedarnath. The doors of Badrinath opened on May 12.
The Char Dham Yatra holds profound spiritual significance in Hinduism and typically takes place from April-May to October-November. Pilgrims traditionally complete the Char Dham Yatra in a clockwise direction, starting from Yamunotri, proceeding to Gangotri, then Kedarnath, and finally ending at Badrinath.
Due to the huge rush of pilgrims, the Uttarakhand government has made registration mandatory for all pilgrims coming for the Char Dham Yatra. With offline registration being stopped in Haridwar and Rishikesh, devotees can now participate in the Yatra only after completing online registration.
