Helicopter tours were allowed despite orange warning and CMO advice to regulate tourists, activist says
Wreckage of a private helicopter operated by Trans Bharat Aviation lies on a hillside near Chai village in Joshimath area of Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, on Friday, October 30, 2026. File | Photo credit: PTI
Friday’s (October 30, 2026) helicopter crash on the Badrinath-Dehradun route that killed six people, including the pilot, has brought Uttarakhand’s helicopter safety regulations under fresh scrutiny, particularly the decision to allow flights despite weather warnings issued for the region.
Activist Anoop Nautiyal said the tragedy was particularly worrying because weather warnings had been issued in advance. An orange warning (for heavy to very heavy rainfall and snowfall) has been issued for five districts, including Chamoli, on 30 October.
“A press release issued at 5:44 pm on October 29 after a meeting chaired by Disaster Management Minister Vinod Kumar Suman called for increased vigilance and directed that passengers be shifted to safe places in case of worsening weather,” Mr. Nautiyal said.
He said the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) also reiterated these concerns in a statement issued at 8:01 am on October 30, advising the authorities to regulate the movement of tourists in high-altitude areas in view of the orange alert.
“Despite these warnings, helicopter strikes have reportedly continued. This raises questions about who authorized the flights, whether the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) enforced the necessary restrictions and why commercial operations were allowed to continue under potentially dangerous conditions,” he said.
Series of accidents
The latest crash comes after a series of helicopter accidents during the 2025 Char Dham Yatra. An accident between Kharsali and Jhala on 8 May 2025 killed six people, while an Aryan Aviation helicopter crashed near Gaurikund on 15 June 2025, killing seven. Five helicopter accidents were reported in just 45 days.
An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) probe into last June’s crash cited rapidly descending clouds, loss of visual reference, the decision to continue on route and the pilot’s limited experience in the Kedarnath Valley as contributing factors.
In July 2025, the Ministry of Civil Aviation told Parliament that Uttarakhand accounted for more than half of the 12 helicopter accidents reported nationally since 2020, as well as 21 of the 30 deaths.
Responding to Mr. Nautiyal’s claim that weather warnings were ignored, Prateek Jain, director general of UCADA, said the agency was following all prescribed safety norms.
“The weather was clear at the time the helicopter crashed. Two combat flights took off before it and two after it and all landed safely,” he said, adding that a detailed investigation into the cause of the accident was underway.
Naveen Singh, a pilgrim from Madhya Pradesh who undertook the Kedarnath Yatra by helicopter this year, questioned whether the remedial measures announced after last year’s accidents had been effectively implemented. “The helicopter I was traveling in was flying in cloudy weather but we landed safely,” he said.
Height challenges
Flight operators in Uttarakhand said flying in the Himalayas poses special operational challenges. The thin air at high altitudes reduces rotor lift and engine power, leaving pilots with less room to hang, climb and carry passengers.
Despite the risks, helicopter services remain a lucrative part of the pilgrim economy. More than a dozen companies deploy around 30 single-engine helicopters every season, generating an estimated ₹800 crore annually.
But veteran shuttle pilot Kedarnath said the business was neither as easy nor as profitable as it seemed. He pointed to the absence of radar coverage, dedicated air traffic control and real-time weather monitoring as major challenges. “Rapidly changing mountain weather and a lack of emergency landing sites also put passengers and pilots at significant risk,” he said.
Published – 30 Oct 2026 22:27 IST