Smiling video, snow-capped peaks: Last messages of Karnataka man before Chamoli helicopter crash that killed all 6 onboard
All six on board died after a helicopter from Badrinath crashed in Chamoli. Prathapa had sent his family two videos just before take-off. Here are the details
PTC Web Desk: Just before his helicopter lifted off from Badrinath, 41-year-old Prathapa Bachihalli Ningaraju sent his family two short videos. In one, he is smiling at the camera. In the other, snow-covered Himalayan peaks fill the frame. A little later on Friday, the helicopter crashed in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district and nobody on board survived.
The videos reached his family at about 1.12 pm. They turned out to be his last messages.
The privately run helicopter was headed to Sahastradhara, near Dehradun. Within two minutes of take-off, contact with it was lost, officials said. Around 2.20 pm, the wreckage was spotted near Chai village in the Joshimath area.
The helicopter belonged to Trans Bharat Aviation and carried the call sign VT-HCX. Chamoli Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar said it was flying over the Joshimath valley when communication broke. The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) also said its tracking system stopped getting the helicopter’s location.
The District Emergency Operations Centre said an Army Signal Centre team saw the aircraft near Hathi Parvat. Smoke was coming out of it and it was dropping fast.
Who were on board
Six persons died in the crash, five passengers and the pilot. The pilot was 48-year-old Captain Himanshu Sabharwal from Delhi. The five passengers, all from Karnataka, were Prathapa Bachihalli Ningaraju (41), Arun Salunkhe (44), an inspector with the Bengaluru Police’s Central Crime Branch, Sudhir K, HS Nataraj and Shankargowda VB.
Rescuers found all six bodies close to the wreckage. But the rough terrain and darkness made it impossible to carry them down on Friday night. Additional District Magistrate Vivek Prakash said the bodies would be moved to Joshimath on Saturday for post-mortem.
Big search operation
As soon as the helicopter went missing, teams from the police, State Disaster Response Force and Army set out from Pandukeshwar and Jyotirmath. Drones were sent from Gopeshwar, the district headquarters. The DEOC said UCADA helicopters were used to survey the site from the air and another SDRF team left from Sahastradhara.
Also Read | Badrinath helicopter crash: All six onboard dead in Chamoli, Trans Bharat Aviation fleet grounded
CM orders probe
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed sorrow over the deaths and ordered a detailed inquiry into what caused the crash. He also told officials to help the families of the victims in every possible way and arrange relief quickly.
For Prathapa’s family, those two clips, a smile and a view of the mountains, are now all that remain of his last journey.