Badrinath helicopter crash, 1 killed and pilots injured

A crew member was killed and two pilots were injured when a helicopter carrying pilgrims crash-landed just after taking off from the Himalayan shrine of Badrinath in Uttarakhand today. All the five passengers were safe. An official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in New Delhi said that an engineer, who was part of the crew, died, while the two pilots suffered injuries. Chamoli Superintendent of Police Tripti Bhatt said the engineer, Vikram Lamba, was hit by rotor blades. He was a resident of Assam.
The police officer said the helicopter got imbalanced while taking off at 7.45 am due to insufficient air pressure and fell. The pilot, Sanjay Wasi from Pune, complained of a slight backache, while co-pilot Alka Shukla, a resident of Kanpur, suffered minor injury.
All the pilgrims were from Vadodara in Gujarat and they have left for their respective destinations, the police officer said. The Agusta 119 helicopter, belonging to Mumbai-based private operator Krestal Aviation, was going to Haridwar. The DGCA said it was investigating the incident.