The helicopter near the Kedarnath shrine collapsed. People who were in the helicopter with the pilot have been declared dead. The helicopter crashed right before take-off near Kedarnath. The incident happened in the morning at 11:40 am on October 18, near Garud Chatti in Rudraprayag, Kedarnath, officials said.
Kedarnath has always been in the headlines. Its popularity stems from a variety of factors, one of which is its religious significance. Every year, Hindu devotees used to use the An helicopter that had six pilgrims and a pilot crash in Kedarnath. The helicopter crashed right before the helicopter took off from the ground. The dead bodies of those six pilgrims, with a pilot, were recovered from the place.
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Although the investigation into the cause of this accident is ongoing. The initial investigation of this accident suggests that there was bad weather and bad vision in the atmosphere in which pilgrims were transported to this incident in the Kedarnath shrine. The exact cause of the accident will be known after a proper investigation, said C. Ravi Shankar, the CEO of the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority.
The aviation regulator sources said an enormously loud noise was heard when the helicopter crashed. The sources also said, "A Bell 407 helicopter VT-RPN belonging to Delhi-based Aryan Aviation has crashed on the way from Kedarnath to Guptkashi, possibly due to cloudy weather."
After the accident happened, it released huge smoky flames into the atmosphere. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and the district police are trying out the rescue operation and investigation in that area.
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Whereas the CM of Uttarakhand asked for an inquiry regarding the crash. The civil aviation minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Prime Minister of the country, Mr. Narendra Modi, and President Draupadi Murmu, showed their condolences to the families of those pilgrims as well as the pilot of the helicopter who died.