Uttarakhand helicopter crash: What is Trans Bharat Aviation? Company named in incident with ₹58 crore revenue in FY25
Trans Bharat Aviation, the operator of the helicopter that crashed in Uttarakhand's Joshimath on Friday, killing six people, provides helicopter charter and pilgrimage services across India.
Founded in 1991, the Delhi-headquartered company has come under scrutiny after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) announced a probe into the accident. Trans Bharat Aviation reported revenue of ₹58 crore in FY25, according to The Company Check.
The helicopter, bearing registration number VT-HCX and identified as an AS350B3, crashed in a forest area near Chai village in Joshimath while flying from Badrinath to Dehradun. It had taken off from the Badrinath helipad at 1:14 pm with the pilot and five passengers on board.
A senior official told PTI that the AAIB would investigate the accident and that its team had already left for the site. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said its team had also been dispatched to Dehradun to conduct a preliminary and regulatory assessment.
According to its LinkedIn profile, Trans Bharat Aviation is “one of the oldest Non-Schedule Operator in India offering Helicopter charter services across India”. The company lists election flying, VIP charters, heli-pilgrimage, joy rides and aerial surveys among its services.
It describes itself as a privately held company in the airlines and aviation industry, with 11-50 employees and its headquarters in Delhi. Its listed specialities include helicopter charter, Char Dham Yatra, Kedarnath Yatra, election flying, flower dropping, aerial surveys, VIP charters and helicopter maintenance.
The company was founded in 1991, according to its LinkedIn profile.
Trans Bharat Aviation's website says it operates a fleet of three Bell 407 helicopters, with a combined passenger capacity of 18. It describes the aircraft as being equipped with advanced avionics and crash-resistant fuel systems and powered by Rolls-Royce engines.
The website also lists pilgrimage services, charter operations, emergency missions and special transport among the company's operational activities. It says its helicopters undergo “Regular DGCA CAR 145-certified maintenance with daily pre-flight inspections”.
The company's website describes its fleet as comprising Bell 407 helicopters. The available information does not establish whether the crashed aircraft was part of the fleet listed on its website.
According to the company information provided, Saket Agarwal serves as the managing director, while Rajesh Agrawal is listed as a director.
The helicopter took off from Badrinath helipad on Friday and was headed to Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun when it crashed in a forest area near Chai village in Joshimath.
Six people, including the pilot, died in the accident. In its statement, the DGCA said, “The wreckage of the crash has been located, and the search and rescue operations are under progress.”
The AAIB will investigate the accident to establish the circumstances and possible causes of the crash. The DGCA has also sent a team to Dehradun to conduct a preliminary and regulatory assessment.
Badrinath is one of the four shrines that make up Uttarakhand's Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. Yamunotri, Gangotri and Kedarnath are the other three shrines.
Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers. <br><br> With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for 101reporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations. <br><br> Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’. <br><br> He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune. <br><br> He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP. <br><br> He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X
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