Helicopter being airlifted crashes near Kedarnath as towing rope snaps

The helicopter belonged to Crystal Aviation Pvt Ltd and had been lying in disuse since its emergency landing in Kedarnath on May 24 after developing a technical snag, he said.

Lucknow: A defective chopper, which was being towed by an Indian Air Force (IAF) for repairs, had to be dropped mid-air over an unpopulated area in Kedarnath valley on Saturday morning after the towing helicopter experienced problems in holding its weight.

Officials in Rudraprayag district, where the famous shrine of Kedarnath was situated, said that the chopper was dropped near Tharu Camp in the Kedarnath valley at a place which was unpopulated. "There was no loss of life or property," said a senior official in Rudraprayag.

The IAF said in a statement that the defective chopper had to be dropped as the MI-17 failed to hold its weight. It was dropped over an unpopulated area, it added. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident, the statement said.

Video footage showed the chopper getting detached from the MI-17 helicopter and falling to the ground in the valley.

Officials in Rudraprayag said that the chopper, which belonged to a private company, had developed technical snag on May 24 and had made an emergency landing a few metres away from the helipad at Kedarnath. None of the passengers in the chopper had suffered any injury.

The defective chopper was being towed to Gauchar for repairs when the incident happened, the official said.

The official said that the chopper might have been dropped by the IAF MI-17 helicopter as it began to lose its balance owing to the weight of the chopper and strong winds.

Several private aviation companies operate chopper services to Kedarnath from different places in Uttarakhand.