Nishikant Khajuria
KATRA, Nov 23: Six pilgrims and a woman Pilot were charred to death when a chopper ferrying them to Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine crashed at Katra after the flying machine caught fire following bird hit, here today.
The crash took place at the New Bus Stand Katra at 1.3 p.m soon after the 2010-make chopper of private airliner Himalayan Heli Service took off carrying six pilgrims from Katra helipad for Sanjhichat in Trikuta hills, DIG Udhampur-Reasi Range, Surinder Gupta told the Excelsior.
The deceased persons included a newly married couple and a six-year old girl along with her father, who are relatives of the Personal Security Officer of the Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh. Four of the seven dead were from Jammu.
Even as preliminary investigations revealed that a vulture had hit the chopper thus leading to the crash, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has instituted an inquiry, which will probe reasons for the incident. “The DGCA would submit a report shortly and this will go a long way in avoiding recurrence of such accidents,” said
Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, who rushed to the accident site and held a high level meeting with senior officers of Civil and Police administration.
The Aircraft Accident Investigating Bureau is probing the accident and a two-member team has been sent to the accident site.
As per initial information, a bird got caught in the tail rotor as a result of which it stopped functioning. To avoid casualties on the ground, the woman pilot chose a safe landing area at the new bus stand and when the chopper was descending, its rotors got entwined in electrical wires and caught fire.
The deceased have been identified as Pilot Sumita Vijayn from Trivendrum in Kerala, Arjun Singh (25), son of Rajeshwar Singh of Gho Manhasa Jammu, his wife Vandana (22), Maheshwar Singh (19), son of Shiv Dev Singh of Poorkhu Domana, Jammu, Sachin (32), son of Jagdish Solanki of Noida NCR, his daughter Akhshita (6) and Aaryanjeet Singh (52), son of Tirth Singh, resident of 220/221, A-1, South Extension, Trikuta Nagar Jammu.
Bodies of the deceased were handed over to the family members in the evening after conducting postmortem.
Immediately after hearing about the crash, Governor N N Vohra, who is also Chairman of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, directed the CEO of the Shrine Board, Ajit Kumar Sahu, to rush to the site and make all necessary arrangements for transportation of the dead bodies to the homes of those killed. The Governor expressed shock and grief over the tragic mishap and also directed the payment of immediate ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh to the next of kin of each of those killed. Besides, the each passenger has a 15 lakh insurance cover.
Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has also felt grief over the deaths in helicopter crash and expressed solidarity with the families of the deceased persons.
Union Minister of State and MP of Kathua-Udhampur Parliamentary constituency, Dr Jitendra Singh has expressed shock over the tragic crash and conveyed his deep sympathies with the families of the deceased, which included relatives of his PSO.
Deputy CM, Dr Nirmal Singh, accompanied by MLA Reasi, Ajay Nanda, Divisional Commissioner Pawan Kotwal and other officers, visited Katra to personally take stock of the situation. Dr Nirmal also visited Katra hospital and directed for early postmortem of the deceased. The DyCM informed that besides DHCA probe, a separate magisterial inquiry has also been ordered by the Government into the accident. Reasi District Magistrate, Sushma Chauhan will head the probe.
MLC and former Minister Jugal Kishore Sharma has expressed grief over the tragic incident and demanded that the probe should inquire into complaints of improper aerial route and frequent sorties etc.
Pertinent to mention that there are around 100 two-way flights a day from Katra to Sanjhichat near the shrine and back. About 1000 people use the chopper service daily.
Two planes of the Himalayan Heli service and choppers of Global Victra Operate on this route.
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