Chopper carrying pilgrims to Badrinath makes emergency landing

Dehardun : A helicopter ferrying pilgrims to Badrinath shrine in Uttarakhand was briefly trapped in bad weather on Saturday and made an emergency landing at Gauchar, officials said.

The chopper belonging to Heritage Aviation was taking a group from the state capital to the Badrinath shrine when it faced turbulent weather in which pilots were unable to navigate their way ahead, sources said.

The pilots tried to land at Chamoli, but were unsuccessful and had to make an emergency landing at the Indo-Tibetian Border Police (ITBP) helipad at Gauchar, sources added.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Karnaprayag, Gopal Ram Binwal, said the passengers after initial scare were safe and had returned. There were five passengers in the chopper.