Was This Helicopter Even Capable Of Carrying Seven People?: Congress’ Pramod Tiwari

Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on Sunday said that at a time when the country was coming to terms with the deadly Air India plane crash that left over 240 dead, another incident of a chopper crash has happened in Uttarakhand in which seven people lost their lives on board.

He also noted that the rail incidents are “increasing” and flight accidents are “deeply hurting” us. The veteran Congress leader asked a few questions, including the carrying capacity of the helicopter at the time of the incident on Sunday morning.

Tiwari told ANI, “… But there are a few questions — rail accidents are increasing, and flight accidents are deeply hurting us. We are still trying to cope with the Ahmedabad plane crash. Recently, a helicopter had to make an emergency landing, and now this incident has happened. I solely blame privatisation. They focus less on safety and more on how much profit can be made. Was this helicopter even capable of carrying seven people at a time? I don’t think the helicopters that operate there can carry that many passengers…”

Earlier this morning, seven people, including the pilot on board a helicopter were killed after the chopper crashed near the forested area of Gaurikund in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) said.

The Aryan Aviation Helicopter was flying to Guptkashi from the Kedarnath Dham when it crashed at 5:30 am today.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a virtual high-level meeting with senior officials from the CM residence after the helicopter crash. Following the incident, the Chief Minister informed that the Helicopter services will not run for the next two days.

The deceased have been identified as Captain Rajbir Singh Chauhan (39), resident of Jaipur, Vikram Rawat (47) a Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee representative and resident of Rasi, Vinod Devi (66), resident of Uttar Pradesh, Trishti Singh (19), resident of Uttar Pradesh, Rajkumar Suresh Jaiswal (41), resident of Gujarat, Shraddha Rajkumar Jaiswal and Kashi (2), resident of Maharashtra.

Rescue teams were immediately dispatched under the direction of SDRF Commander Arpan Yadav. The incident spot was located in a very inaccessible and dense forest area, where a fast-paced and coordinated rescue operation was carried out by the joint teams of SDRF, NDRF, and local police.

Rescue teams worked in inclement weather to retrieve the bodies of the deceased. (ANI)