Six people, including the pilot, were killed on Friday when a helicopter carrying pilgrims crashed in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in northern India, officials said.

The helicopter took off from Badrinath, one of Hinduism’s most important pilgrimage sites, on Friday afternoon and lost contact shortly afterwards, according to the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA). It crashed on a hillside near a village close to Joshimath in Chamoli district, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said. The authority later told Indian media that they had found six bodies.

According to reports citing officials, Trans Bharat Aviation operated the aircraft, which was flying to Dehradun. Those on board were the pilot and five passengers, who Indian media reported were from Bengaluru in Karnataka state. Business Standard reported that the pilot was Captain Himanshu Sabharwal, 48, from Delhi.

The cause of the crash is not yet known. Reports of heavy rain and poor visibility in the area were cited, and India’s weather department had issued an orange alert for the region before the crash, warning of thunderstorms, hail, and strong winds. The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported snowfall in the area at the time.

Dhami expressed grief over the deaths, ordered a detailed investigation, and told the district administration to give the families all possible assistance, according to ANI. Business Standard reported that India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) would investigate and that the operator’s fleet had been grounded. These two points were not included in the other reports I found, and the authorities in those sources have not confirmed them.

Uttarakhand borders China and Nepal and is home to some of Hinduism’s holiest shrines. Badrinath is one of the four sites on the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit, along with Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri. The temples are open for only part of the year because of harsh winter conditions.

Helicopter services have become increasingly popular with pilgrims who want to avoid difficult mountain journeys, but their safety has come under scrutiny after a series of accidents. Seven people were killed when a helicopter carrying pilgrims crashed near Kedarnath in June 2025, and seven more died in a crash on the same route in October 2022. After several accidents during the 2025 pilgrimage season, aviation authorities tightened safety checks and restricted some operations.

Sources: BBC/ANI/Xinhua/PTI