Kedarnath Helicopter incident: Chopper makes hard landing caught on camera

While landing at Kedarnath helipad, a Thumby Aviation helicopter bounced and turned 270 degrees. The DGCA asked the chopper pilot to exercise caution whenever there are tailwinds when they are heading for landing.

The officials reported that an investigation has been initiated to look into the incident. A Thumby Aviation Bell 407 helicopter at around 1:30 am had a very hand landing at Kedarnath helipad.

#WATCH A helicopter belonging to a private aviation company while landing at Kedarnath helipad had an uncontrolled hard landing on 31st May; no passengers were injured in the incident#Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/4yskr0aoz5

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) June 6, 2022

During the touchdown, an unstabilised approach was made by the helicopter. According to reports, the helicopter struck the helipad surface hard, bounced and after having lost direction by about 270 degrees, again settled down hard on the ground.

The regulator issued an advisory after the incident in which it said, “pilots are to exercise caution for the presence of any tailwinds during approaches, especially at Shri Kedarnath helipad.”

Pilots must take adequate precautions and if the tailwinds or crosswinds are beyond the permissible limits, the approach must be abandoned and the chopper must return to the base, the advisory mentioned.

The DGCA is investigating the incident and it is planning to conduct a spot check for ensuring safety oversight of these helicopter operations, the officials noted.

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