Uttarakhand crash: AAIB says helicopter tumbled down hill after rotor blade hit overhead cable
New Delhi (PTI): A preliminary probe into the helicopter crash that killed six people in Uttarakhand in May has found that the main rotor blade of the chopper struck an overhead fibre cable, before tumbling down the hillside and coming to rest against a tree.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said on Saturday that the investigation team is working on the further course of action to find the root cause of the accident.
The 17-year-old Bell 407 helicopter operated by Aerotrans Services Pvt Ltd, with six passengers onboard, crashed 24 minutes after being airborne on May 8.
The pilot and five passengers died in the accident, while one passenger sustained serious injuries.
AAIB said that the helicopter, which was airborne from Kharsali helipad at 8.11 am on May 8, was destroyed in the crash but there was no fire. The accident happened at Gangnani in Uttarkashi at 8.35 am.
In its five-page report, AAIB said the helicopter flew for 20 minutes before descending from its assigned altitude.
"Initially, the pilot attempted to land on the Uttarkashi-Gangotri Road (NH 34) near Gangnani in Uttarkashi. During the landing attempt, the helicopter's main rotor blade struck an overhead fibre cable running parallel to the road.
"It also damaged some roadside metallic barricades. However, the helicopter was unable to land and tumbled down the hillside. Eventually, it came to rest against a tree, approximately 250 feet deep in a gorge," it said.
The helicopter, powered by Rolls Royce engine, was manufactured in 2008.
The US National Transportation Safety Board and Canada's Transportation Safety Board have appointed accredited representatives and technical advisors for the investigation.
"The investigation team is coordinating with them for further course of action required to find out the root cause(s)," the report said.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
