A helicopter carrying pilgrims crashed soon after taking off from the Himalayan shrine of Badrinath in Uttarakhand on Saturday, killing a crew member and injuring two pilots.
Police said the Agusta 119 helicopter got disbalanced during take-off due to insufficient air pressure and fell down just after take-off around 7.45am near Govindghat in Badrinath.
All the five passengers were reportedly safe. The helicopter was on its way from Badrinath to Haridwar.
An official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in Delhi said an engineer, who was part of the crew, died in the accident while two pilots suffered injuries.
Chamoli superintendent of police Tripti Bhatt told PTI over phone that the engineer was hit by rotor blades.
The Agusta 119 single-engine helicopter belonged to Mumbai-based private operator Crystal Aviation Company, officials said.
ANI said in a tweet that the engineer died after being strangled by the helicopter’s blades.
Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat condoled the death of the engineer and offered condolences to his family members.
Saddened by the news of death of an engineer of a Mumbai based chopper company in SriBadrinath ji; pilot, copilot & all passengers are safe
— Trivendra S Rawat (@tsrawatbjp)10 June 2017
“May God give them strength to bear this extremely unfortunate loss,” he posted.
My condolences to the family of the engineer – May God give them strength to bear this extremely unfortunate loss
— Trivendra S Rawat (@tsrawatbjp)10 June 2017
Source: HindustanTimes