All six people on board a private helicopter flying from Badrinath to Dehradun were killed on Friday, October 30, 2026, after the aircraft crashed into a hillside near Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, officials confirmed.
The helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd., took off from Badrinath at around 1:14 pm for the Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun, carrying five pilgrims and a pilot. Contact with the aircraft was lost within minutes, near Hathi Parvat, close to Joshimath, while it was flying amid snowfall and poor weather.
Key Takeaways
- All six people on board — five pilgrims from Bengaluru and the pilot — died in the crash near Joshimath.
- The helicopter lost contact minutes after taking off from Badrinath for Dehradun amid snowfall and adverse weather.
- The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will probe the crash, and the operator’s entire fleet has been grounded.
What Happened on the Flight
According to the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA), the helicopter, bearing call sign VT-HCX, departed Badrinath for Sahastradhara at approximately 1:12 to 1:14 pm. Shortly afterwards, at about 1:14 pm, contact was lost near Joshimath, and information about its disappearance was received from an Army post.
Chamoli Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar said the helicopter crashed into a hillside near Chai village in the Joshimath area, and that the bodies of all six people on board were recovered from the vicinity of the wreckage. The crash site lies in difficult, mountainous terrain, and darkness complicated the recovery effort on Friday evening.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirmed the crash near Chhai village and said a joint rescue operation involving the district administration, the Disaster Management Department, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Army personnel was launched immediately.
Contact with the aircraft was lost within minutes of take-off, while it was flying amid snowfall and poor weather near Joshimath.
The Victims
The five passengers were all residents of Bengaluru in Karnataka, returning home after visiting Badrinath, one of the four revered Hindu pilgrimage sites known as the Char Dham. They were identified as Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K. and H.S. Natraja.
The pilot was Captain Himanshu Sabharwal, aged 48, from Delhi. One of the passengers, Arun Salunke, aged 44, was an inspector with Bengaluru Police’s Central Crime Branch, according to reports.
Weather Warnings in Place
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an orange alert for Chamoli on October 30, warning of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hail and gusty winds of 40–50 kmph in isolated areas. The helicopter was flying in snowfall when contact was lost, officials said.
Mountain flying in the Himalayan region carries well-known risks in bad weather, and the recent glacial lake outburst flood in Bhutan has again underlined how quickly conditions in the high Himalayas can turn dangerous.
- The helicopter took off from Badrinath at around 1:14 pm on Friday, October 30, 2026.
- Contact was lost within minutes, near Hathi Parvat close to Joshimath, amid snowfall.
- All six on board — five Bengaluru pilgrims and the pilot — were killed.
- The wreckage was found near Chai village; bodies were recovered by rescue teams.
- An orange weather alert had been issued for Chamoli district on the day of the crash.
Investigation Under Way
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has initiated an investigation into the crash, and its team has already left for the site, a senior official said. The entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd. has been grounded following the accident.
Officials said the investigation will examine the sequence of events from take-off to the loss of contact, along with the weather conditions at the time. As with other recent disaster responses in India, including the relief operations after Cyclone Arnab, teams from the district administration, disaster management and the armed forces were mobilised for the search.
What to Watch Next
The AAIB investigation will now establish what caused the crash, and its findings will shape any safety action for helicopter services on the Char Dham pilgrimage routes. The bodies of the victims were to be brought back from the crash site on Saturday, given the darkness and difficult terrain on Friday evening, and the operator’s fleet remains grounded while the probe continues.