The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken cognizance of a dangerous landing of a private helicopter at Panjtarni while en route to the Amarnath Yatra. The DGCA stated in a statement that the chopper service operator had been grounded and the pilot had been de-registered.
Shortly after the incident, a video of the visibly haphazard landing went viral on social media. The footage showed the chopper making a risky landing among mules, even as onlookers warned those nearby to move away. Several people on social media questioned the DGCA about the incident.
“The incident shown in the video clip is of a place on the route called Mahuguna Pass and not any of the helipads cleared by DGCA. The helicopter in the clip seems to be overloaded, whilst not meeting the performance standards and also the SOP for crossing a pass does not seem to have been followed by the pilot,” the DGCA said in the statement.
It may be noted that the helipads used in Shri Amarnath Yatra are Neelgrath, Pahalgam, and Panjtarni. The civil aviation watchdog has cleared the helipads even for this year’s Amarnath yatra after an inspection by the team.
“DGCA has taken cognizance of this issue and the EC 130 helicopter type of M/s Heritage Aviation involved in this incident, has already been grounded by Air Safety due to exceedance reported for engine parameters. The involved pilot has also been de-rostered,” the DGCA statement said.
The agency said that the second EC130 machine of the operator has also been grounded and a probe team has been sent to investigate the incident further.