Six persons including five women have died after a helicopter carrying seven passengers crashed in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi on Thursday as it was headed to Gangotri.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will probe the helicopter crash in Uttarakhand, reported PTI.
The helicopter carrying a total of seven people, including the pilot, crashed on the Rishikesh-Gangotri National Highway at around 8:45 am.
District Magistrate Meharban Singh Bisht said six people died on the spot.
One of the helicopter occupants was seriously injured in the crash and has been identified as M. Bhaskar (51) from Andhra Pradesh.
He has been airlifted to AIIMS, Rishikesh.
Three on board the helicopter were from Mumbai, two from Andhra Pradesh and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
Those killed were identified as Kala Chandrakant Soni (61), Vijaya Reddy (57), Ruchi Agrawal (56), Radha Agrawal (79), Vedvati Kumari (48) and Capt Robin Singh (60). Captain Singh hailed from Gujarat.
According to information received from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the helicopter crashed and fell into a gorge about 200-250 metres deep.
The SDRF said the helicopter had left from Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun for Kharsali helipad in Yamunotri. Capt Robin Singh was flying the helicopter, the SDRF said. While four on board were from Mumbai, two others hailed from Andhra Pradesh.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident.
The administration has been instructed to provide all possible help to the injured and investigate the accident, he said, adding that he is constantly in touch with officials and monitoring the situation.
AAIB To Probe Into Crash
Seven people, including the pilot, were on board the helicopter of Ahmedabad-based private company AeroTrans Services Pvt Ltd, one of the officials said.
The company's Bell helicopter was involved in the crash.
As per information available on aviation regulator DGCA's website, AeroTrans Services has two Bell helicopters and one Cessna aircraft.
Coming under the civil aviation ministry, AAIB is responsible for classification of safety occurrences' involving aircraft operating in the Indian airspace into accidents, serious incidents and incidents.
It carries out detailed investigations into accidents and also suggests measures to improve safety.
