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Dehradun, India – June 15, 2025 – A helicopter carrying pilgrims to the revered Hindu temple town of Kedarnath crashed in the Himalayas early Sunday, killing all seven people on board, including a two-year-old child, according to officials from Uttarakhand state.
The aircraft, operated under the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority, took off around 5:30am local time (00:00 GMT) from Kedarnath and was headed to Guptkashi, a town situated about 37 kilometers (23 miles) away. Authorities reported that the helicopter went down shortly after takeoff, crashing into a densely forested, remote area in the mountainous region.
The victims have been identified as pilot Captain Rajveer Singh Chauhan and passengers Vikram Rawat, Vinod Devi, Trishti Singh, Rajkumar Jaiswal, his wife Shraddha Jaiswal, and their young daughter, Kashi. Officials said the bodies were severely burned in a fire ignited by the crash impact.
Rescue teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), working alongside local police, reached the difficult crash site, where recovery operations are ongoing. Preliminary investigations suggest that inclement weather and poor visibility may have led to the accident.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed condolences in a post on X, describing the event as “very sad.” Kedarnath, located at an altitude of 3,584 metres (11,759 feet), is among the holiest of Hindu pilgrimage destinations and attracts thousands of devotees during the annual summer pilgrimage season.
Many pilgrims, especially elderly or wealthier individuals, opt for helicopter services to bypass the challenging trek through steep mountain paths. However, the region’s unpredictable weather patterns and high-altitude conditions frequently pose hazards to aviation.
The crash comes amid a troubling series of recent aviation mishaps in the region. On June 7, another helicopter operating in the Kedarnath Valley was forced to make an emergency landing on a nearby highway after a technical malfunction. While the pilot sustained injuries, the five passengers escaped unhurt.
Last month, a separate helicopter crash in Uttarkashi district claimed six lives, including the pilot, with only one person surviving. These back-to-back incidents have raised concerns over the safety protocols of chartered air services in the area.
Sunday’s crash marks the fifth helicopter-related accident in Uttarakhand in under two months. The tragedy follows closely on the heels of a deadly commercial airliner crash in Ahmedabad, where an Air India plane went down, killing all but one of the 242 people aboard and dozens more on the ground.
Authorities have pledged a thorough investigation into the Kedarnath helicopter crash, as questions grow over aviation safety standards in one of India’s most rugged and challenging flight zones.
