Six pilgrims — including a newly-married couple from Jammu, and a woman pilot were killed in a helicopter crash in Katra, the base camp of the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu & Kashmir’s Reasi district on Monday.
The ill-fated helicopter, carrying the pilgrims who had performed prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Vaishno Devi cave shrine nestled in Trikuta hills, was returning from Sanjhi Chat helipad when it crash-landed in an open field near the new bus stand in Katra around 1.00 pm.
According to eyewitness reports, the chopper caught fire mid-air after apparently being hit by a bird. However, the pilot managed to avert the crash in a populated area in Katra.
The charred body of a bird was also found along with the wreckage of the chopper.
The DGCA team is expected to visit the crash site on Tuesday for detailed investigations. Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh also rushed to the accident site to take stock of the situation on ground zero. He was briefed by local police and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board authorities.
According to eyewitnesses, “The pilot tried her level best to land the chopper in an open field to avoid any crash in the built-up area but she too ran out of luck.”
The charred bodies of pilgrims and woman pilot were later retrieved from the wreckage of the chopper.
The deceased were identified as Pilot Sumita Vijayn from Hyderbad, Arjun Singh Chib, Vandana Chib and Mahesh from Jammu, Sachin Solanki, Akshita (5) and Aaranjit Singh from Delhi.
Sumita Vijayan was the chief pilot of the Himalyan Heli services and had clocked over 7000 hours of flying experience.
Arjun and Vandana got married just five days ago on November 18. Arjun, the lone son of his parents, was serving in the Indian Air Force and was posted in Bareilly. He was on a thanks-giving visit to the cave shrine along with his wife.
Sachin and Akshita of Rohini in Delhi were close relatives of a Personal Security Officer of MOS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh.
In December 2012 five pilgrims were injured in a chopper crash in Katra. Before this, two major accidents were reported in 1988 and 2007 following which DGCA was forced to crack whip and the helicopter service providers were directed to strictly follow approved route between Katra and Sanjhichat.