Mi-26 Indian Air Force landed at the airfield at an altitude of 11,660 feet in Kedarnath. Kedarnath is a town located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and has gained importance because of Kedarnath Temple.

It is a nagar panchayat in Rudraprayag district. The most remote of the four Char Dham sites, Kedarnath is located in the Himalayas, about 3,583 m (11,755 ft) above sea level near Chorabari Glacier, the head of river Mandakini, and is flanked by snow-capped peaks.

The nearest road head is at Gaurikund, at a distance of 14 k.m.

The Mil Mi-26 (Russian: Миль Ми-26, NATO reporting name: Halo), given the product code izdeliye 90, is a Soviet/Russian heavy transport helicopter. In service with civilian and military operators, it is the largest and most powerful helicopter to have gone into production.

The Mi-26 was designed as a heavy-lift helicopter for military and civil use, and was to replace earlier Mi-6 and Mi-12 heavy lift helicopters, with twice the cabin space and payload of the Mi-6, then the world’s largest and fastest production helicopter. The primary purpose was to move military equipment like 13 metric ton (29,000 lb) amphibious armored personnel carriers, and mobile ballistic missiles, to remote locations after delivery by military transport planes such as the Antonov An-22 or Ilyushin Il-76.

Glorious! First landing of an IAF Mi-26 at Kedarnath at 9.45am today. World's biggest chopper. 11,660 feet. pic.twitter.com/KAu8IsXKPh

— Livefist (@livefist) 6 января 2015