DEHRADUN: Soon after the take off from Sirsi helipad, which besides Phata and Guptkashi, is used to take pilgrims to Kedarnath, a private firm helicopter crash-landed in Badasu area of Rudraprayag district on Saturday morning. In a span of 30 days, this was the fourth mishap involving a helicopter on the Char Dham route.The chopper had taken off with five pilgrims to Kedarnath from Sirsi helipad. While landing the tail of the chopper broke off, the authorities maintained that no one was injured in the incident.An official communication from the stat government mentioned, “The CEO of UCADA has informed that a helicopter made a precautionary landing on the road, instead of the helipad, while taking off with passengers from Sirsi. There are no reports of any casualties. The DGCA has been notified, and the rest of the shuttle operations are proceeding as scheduled.”A chopper crashed near Gangotri, leading to six deaths on May 8. An incident was averted when a chopper blade hit a vehicle at the Badrinath helipad on May 12. An air ambulance crashed in the Kedarnath area as its tail hit the ground while landing near the helipad around 11:50am on May 17 and no casualties were reported and all three persons – the pilot, a doctor and nursing staff – were safe.
