AAIB to probe helicopter crash in Jammu and Kashmir which killed seven pilgrims

New Delhi: The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will probe the chopper crash incident in Katra in which seven persons including a woman pilot were on Monday killed.The six pilgrims and the pilot were killed when the chopper crashed in Katra, the base camp of the Vaishnodevi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district.[caption id="attachment_2518010" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Chopper crash in Katra. PTI[/caption]A senior official at aviation regulator DGCA said the AAIB would be looking into the crash and a two-member team would be going to the incident site.AAIB, which was under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is now an independent body.The chopper of a private airliner, which was carrying pilgrims from Sanjichat helipad in Trikuta hills, crashed at new bus stand area in Katra.Ahead of International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) crucial audit of domestic aviation sector this month, the government had recently notified the regulatory framework for making AAIB an independent body.PTI