A day after Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other defence personnel died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addressed the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Addressing the Lower House, Singh said that the IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter carrying Gen Rawat and others had left Sulur IAF station in Tamil Nadu around 11.48 am and was supposed to land at DSSC in Wellington at Udhagamandalam at 12:15 pm. The ATC at Sulur lost contact with the chopper at around 12:08 pm. Later, some locals saw the chopper in flames and rushed to the accident site. The local administration sent a rescue team to the crash site which tried to evacuate the survivors. The injured were at soo sent to a military hospital in Wellington.
Singh said 14 people were onboard the helicopter out of which 13 people lost their lives. CDS Bipin Rawat, his wife and Brigadier LS Lidder, Lt Col Harjinder Singh, Wing Commander PS Chauhan, Squadron Leader K Singh, JWO Das, JWO Pradeep A, Havildar Satpal, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitender Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar and Lance Naik Sai Teja were killed in the crash incident, he informed the Lok Sabha.
The last rites of CDS General Bipin Rawat other military personnel will be performed with appropriate military honour, the defence minister informed.
Giving an update on injured IAF Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the ill-fated Mi-17V5 helicopter crash, Singh said that the officer is being given the best treatment.
The defence further said that IAF has initiated a Triservice enquiry into the chopper crash incident which would be headed by Air Marshal Manavendra Singh.
The tragic incident happened after the Mi-17V5 helicopter they were travelling in crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. Notably, the former Army chief had survived a helicopter crash six years ago, in 2015, when he was serving as a Lt General in the Indian Army.
Besides CDS Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier LS Lidder, the military advisor to the Chief of Defence Staff, and staff officer Lt Col Harjinder Singh, Wing Commander PS Chauhan, Squadron Leader K Singh, JWO Das, JWO Pradeep A, Havildar Satpal, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitender Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar and Lance Naik Sai Teja also lost their lives in the IAF Mi-17V5 chopper crash incident.
The IAF has ordered an enquiry into the crash incident to ascertain the truth behind the accident.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed deep anguish over the sudden demise of Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others.
“Deeply anguished by the sudden demise of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other armed forces personnel in an extremely unfortunate helicopter accident today in Tamil Nadu,” Rajnath Singh tweeted.
“His untimely death is an irreparable loss to our armed forces and the country,” the defence minister said.
The mortal remains will be brought to Delhi by a military plane today. The cremation of the late CDS and his wife is expected to be done at Delhi Cantonment.
