All six individuals on board a Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd. helicopter perished when the aircraft crashed in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday, October 30, 2026. The civil helicopter was traveling from the revered Shri Badrinath Dham to the Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun when it went missing before authorities confirmed the tragic outcome.
Details of the Crash and Victims
The incident occurred around 2:20 PM, with the helicopter reportedly crashing into a hillside in the Hathi Parvat area, near the JP Power House and Marwari Bridge. Visuals from the crash site depicted a completely wrecked aircraft, with only its tail section remaining relatively intact amidst dense vegetation on a steep, wooded incline.
Chamoli Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar confirmed that the bodies of all six occupants, including the pilot and five passengers, had been located. The pilot was identified as Captain Himanshu. The five passengers, all residents of Bengaluru, were named as Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K, and H S Natraja.
Rescue and Recovery Operations
Following reports of the crash, a multi-agency rescue effort was swiftly launched. Teams from the Chamoli district administration, Uttarakhand Police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Army, and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were dispatched to the remote crash site. The challenging, difficult terrain is expected to complicate efforts to recover the bodies and secure the area.
Authorities are actively coordinating these recovery operations. As of now, the official cause of the helicopter crash has not yet been established and remains under investigation.