Another chopper crashes while making emergency landing in Uttarkashi, pilot injured

UTTARKASHI: Barely two days after a helicopter engaged in relief operation crashed near Moldi village leaving three persons dead, another chopper made an emergency landing near Nagwada village in Uttarkashi district on Friday.
The pilot, identified as Sushant Jana from Jabalpur, MP, sustained minor head injuries, whereas the co- pilot, Ajit Singh from Haryana, remained unharmed.
The incident took place when the chopper was transporting relief material to the disaster-affected areas from its base in Arakot. It was on its way to Chiwan village when the pilot, it was alleged, was about to run into a wire trolley which is used by locals to transport apples from orchards which are situated at a height. The chopper made an emergency landing at a dry diver bed near Nagwada village. Soon after the incident, rescue personnel reached the spot and gave first-aid to the pilot.
It may be recalled that a wire trolley was also alleged to be the cause of Wednesday’s chopper crash that resulted in the death of three persons including the pilot and co-pilot.
However, villagers of the area refused to blame the wire trolleys for being an obstruction for choppers. Instead, they alleged that in Friday's accident, the pilot was flying at a low height, which led to the accident. “In most of the hilly regions, farmers use these gravity-based rope ways to transport their crop from hills to the nearest roadhead, as it is the cheapest and sometimes, the only mode of transportation instead of ponies, porters or vehicles. The government should direct pilots to fly safely and at high altitude in hilly regions instead of blaming farmers, as choppers can also get tangled in electricity wires,” said Abbal Singh, a local apple farmer.
Reacting to the matter, Ashish Chauhan, district magistrate, Uttarkashi, said, “All the temporary helipads in disaster-affected regions were constructed on the basis of directions given by pilots. Till now, aviation companies have not expressed any dissatisfaction over the gravity-based rope ways installed by local villagers. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is also investigating the cause of the accident.”