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Six Killed as Helicopter Crashes Near Joshimath in Uttarakhand

A Trans Bharat Aviation helicopter flying from Badrinath to Dehradun crashed into a hillside near Joshimath on Friday, killing the pilot and all five passengers. The aviation authority grounded the operator fleet as a precaution.

By Orbit Post2 min read
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Six Killed as Helicopter Crashes Near Joshimath in Uttarakhand

Key points

  • All six people on board a private helicopter were killed on Friday when the aircraft crashed into a hillside near Joshimath in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, police said.
  • The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority said the helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt.
  • Police identified the pilot as Capt.

All six people on board a private helicopter were killed on Friday when the aircraft crashed into a hillside near Joshimath in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, police said. The helicopter was flying from Badrinath, a major Hindu pilgrimage town in the Indian Himalayas, to Dehradun, the state capital.

The flight and the loss of contact

The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority said the helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd. with the call sign VT-HCX, took off from Badrinath at about 1:14 p.m. local time for the Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun. The authority said the helicopter lost communication while flying over the Joshimath valley, and its tracking system lost the aircraft at the same time. Officials said the aircraft came down at about 2:20 p.m. on a hillside near the JP Power House, close to Marwari Bridge, and reports also placed the wreckage near Chai village in the Joshimath area.

The victims

Police identified the pilot as Capt. Himanshu Sabharwal, a resident of Delhi. The five passengers were Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K. and H. S. Natraja. Police said all five passengers were men from Bengaluru in Karnataka. Chamoli Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar said the bodies of all six were found at the site, and later reports from police said the bodies had been recovered. Joint teams from the Uttarakhand Police, the State Disaster Response Force and the Indian Army took part in the operation at the hillside site.

Operator fleet grounded

The aviation authority said the entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation had been grounded as a precautionary measure after the crash. News agency ANI reported the death toll citing the authority chief executive, Prateek Jain. Officials have not stated a cause for the crash, and no official account of the aircraft's final communications has been made public. The crash happened on one of the helicopter routes that carry pilgrims and visitors through the mountain valleys around Badrinath during the pilgrimage season, where flights operate between small helipads in steep terrain.

This is a developing story. Details on the cause and on the recovery operation will be added as officials release them.

Timeline

  1. Oct 30, 2026At about 1:14 p.m. local time, a Trans Bharat Aviation helicopter with call sign VT-HCX takes off from Badrinath for the Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun, according to the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority.
  2. Oct 30, 2026The helicopter loses communication over the Joshimath valley and is later found crashed on a hillside near Joshimath, with officials putting the crash at about 2:20 p.m.
  3. Oct 30, 2026Police confirm the pilot and all five passengers are dead and the bodies are recovered. The aviation authority grounds the entire Trans Bharat Aviation fleet as a precaution.

Sources