New Delhi, Oct 16 There were eight helicopter accidents in the Char Dham sector in 2015-2025, and most of them were due to the flight crew’s non-adherence to standard operating procedures, according to probe agency AAIB.
An analysis of the data by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) showed that there were 9 occurrences, including 8 accidents and 1 serious incident, in the Char Dham sector during the ten-year period, with at least 1 accident or serious incident every year from 2022 onwards.
“Out of these 8 accidents, 5 accidents were fatal. There was no accident in 2015 & 2016 as the Char Dham operations during that time were very limited.
“From the year 2017 to 2019, there were 2 accidents, out of which 1 was fatal. In the years 2020 & 2021, the operations were very limited owing to COVID-19 protocols and no accidents were reported during this period,” AAIB said in its final report on the helicopter crash in Uttarakhand that killed 7 people in June last year.
In 2025, there were 4 accidents, which was also the maximum number of accidents that occurred in a single year and that too within May and June, AAIB said.
Out of those 4 accidents, 2 were fatal in nature.
“Probable cause/contributory factor(s) of these accidents were analysed to understand the nature of these accidents. It was observed that most of these accidents occurred due to non-adherence to SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) associated with handling of the helicopter by the crew and their decision-making during adverse conditions such as weather/high altitude operations,” AAIB said in the report.
Aryan Aviation’s Bell 407 helicopter VT-BKA, operating a shuttle flight from Shri Kedarnath to Guptkashi in Uttarakhand, crashed on June 15, 2025.
(PTI News)
