NEW DELHI, Dec 8: An Indian Air Force helicopter of MI-17 series carrying chief of the defence staff Bipin Rawat, his wife and 12 other senior army officers crashed in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday afternoon.
While the conditions of the CDS and his wife were not immediately known, official sources have confirmed that 13 of the 14 persons onboard including the crew were killed in the accident. The helicopter was airborne from Sulur for Wellington.
“An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. An Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident,” the Indian Air Force tweeted. Besides his wife,
Rawat’s Defence Assistant, security commandos and Air Force personnel were among 14 people on board.
General Rawat had taken a flight from Delhi to Sulur earlier today and that flight manifest had listed nine people. The flight from Sulur included five more, possibly crew.
The crash took place in the Nilgiris shortly after the Russian-made Mi-17 V5 chopper took off from the Air Force base in Sulur in Coimbatore for the Defence Staff Services College in Wellington. The defence establishment learnt of the incident from villagers who had informed the district administration.
Visuals showed wreckage scattered on a steep hillside and rescuers at work, struggling through thick smoke and fire. Charred bodies were pulled out by locals and cops from under mangled metal and fallen trees.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh is likely to brief parliament on the crash tomorrow. Following army protocol, Singh has already briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, sources said. Sources said Singh is attending a meeting with senior officials of his ministry. For now, he will not travel to Tamil Nadu and is monitoring the situation from Delhi, sources said.
Rescue and relief operations are in progress at the spot, which have been made difficult by the terrain. The Tamil Nadu government has sent senior officials to the crash site. A medical team from Ooty and experts from Coimbatore are rushing to the spot.
Former army chief General JJ Singh said bodies recovered were charred, which was making identification difficult. Those rescued have sustained severe burn injuries.
The chopper had taken off from the army base in Coimbatore’s Sulur and was on way to Wellington in Udhagamandalam. General Rawat, it is believed, was to visit the Defence Services Staff College located there.
The Mi series choppers are the workhorse of the Indian Air Force and are used in high-altitude operations. They are also used to ferry VIPs, including the Prime Minister.
Army personnel with the support of local police have taken the crash site under control. People have been asked not to visit the area as it may cause hindrance to rescue work. State Chief Minister M K Stalin is also set to visit the area. Traffic has been halted from Coonoor to Coimbatore, official sources said.
The chopper carrying Bipin Rawat, the first Chief of Defence Staff of India, crashed near the upper Coonoor region at around 12.20 pm.
Top sources in Tamil Nadu police and the Indian military facility at Coonoor said four survivors were shifted to Coonoor military hospital. “All of them had burn injuries. The first batch of six senior doctors from Coimbatore general hospital have reached Coonoor hospital,” said an army source.
The crash happened at a distance of about 10 km from the helipad where it was to land with CDS Rawat, who was to attend a cadet interaction programme today afternoon at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.
(Manas Dasgupta)
