On June 16, seven people (including a toddler) died in a helicopter crash at Kedarnath. Since May 8, this was the fifth incident in six weeks that occurred along the Char Dham route. Some of the reasons ascribed for the accidents are: inclement weather, mountainous terrain, fog, thick clouds, poor to nil visibility, no air traffic control (ATC) towers, absence of weather updates in real-time, race to make several sorties beyond the prescribed limits, pilots’ fatigue, low-priced tickets, maintenance and non-availability of spares, amongst others. To top all these causes is the greed of the operators to make a fast buck at the cost of the devotees and tourists. The helicopter operations are controlled by the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) and now with the help of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) some steps are being taken to oversee the operations. To start with dedicated ATC towers need to be installed to help the pilots and standard operating procedures (SOP) drawn up by the UCADA and DGCA. Any violations by the operators must lead to suspensions, blacklisting and cancellation of the licence.
