BENGALURU: The mortal remains of all six people, including the pilot, who died in a helicopter crash in Uttarakhand on Friday have been recovered, the Karnataka government said in a press note.
According to information received from the Uttarakhand State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC), the civil helicopter operated by Trans Bharat Aviation, carrying a pilot and five passengers from Karnataka, crashed at around 2 pm in the hilly terrain of the Hathi Parvat area while travelling from Badrinath to Dehradun.
The Uttarakhand disaster management authorities mobilised teams from the Army, SDRF, ITBP, police, Health Department and district disaster management authorities to carry out search and rescue operations. The mortal remains are being brought to Joshimath for post-mortem examination, the press note said.
#WATCH | Belagavi, Karnataka | Relative of Arun Salunke, one of the victims of the Helicopter crash near Joshimath, says, “We learned around 3:00 to 3:30 PM that a helicopter crash had occurred. We are currently making inquiries from all sides. The Army has indicated that they are currently ‘missing’—that is all we know so far. There are five people on board the helicopter. Today marks the third day since they left; they were supposed to return today…”
Prateek Jain, CEO of the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA), confirmed that all six people on board—including the pilot—have died after a missing helicopter en route from Badrinath Dham in Chamoli to Dehradun crashed.
— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2026
The Chief Minister’s Office and the Relief Commissioner are coordinating with their counterparts in Uttarakhand to facilitate the transportation of the mortal remains to Karnataka at the earliest. The office of the Resident Commissioner at Karnataka Bhavan is also coordinating with the Uttarakhand authorities. The Karnataka government said it was extending all possible assistance to the families of the deceased.
The helicopter had gone missing earlier in the day after taking off from Badrinath for Dehradun. Two teams comprising police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Army personnel were deployed from Pandukeshwar and Joshimath to search for the missing helicopter carrying six people, including a pilot and five passengers, Chamoli Superintendent of Police (SP) Surjeet Singh Panwar said on Friday.
In a self-recorded video statement, Panwar said the Trans Bharat Aviation helicopter took off from the Badrinath civil helipad for Sahastradhara helipad on October 30 at approximately 1.12 pm. Its transmission link with the radar was lost near Joshimath at 1.14 pm.
“A helicopter belonging to Trans Bharat Aviation took off from the Badrinath civil helipad, bound for the Sahastradhara helipad, today, October 30, at approximately 1.12 pm. At 1.14 pm, its transmission link with the radar was lost near Joshimath”, he said. (ANI)
