NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Group Captain Varun Singh, the only immediate survivor of the December 8 helicopter crash in which the Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat was among the 13 killed, also succumbed to injuries on Wednesday.
Singh had been on life support for the past week since the crash of the Indian Air Force’s Mi-17v5 helicopter carrying him, the CDS, his wife Madhulika and 11 other military personnel near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on December 8. Singh had been battling for his life at the Air Force Command Hospital, Bengaluru where he breathed his last. With Singh’s death, all 14 passengers of the helicopter have now died.
After rescued from the crash site, Gp. Capt. Singh was taken to the Military Hospital, Wellington, and later shifted to the Command Hospital, Bengaluru, but his medical condition continued to remain critical despite the best efforts. He had sustained severe burns and remained unconscious, officials said.
The IAF said in a tweet that it was “deeply saddened to inform the passing away of braveheart Group Captain Varun Singh, who succumbed this morning to the injuries sustained in the helicopter accident on 08 Dec 21.” The Air Force said it “offers sincere condolences and stands firmly with the bereaved family.”
Reacting to the news, President Ram Nath Kovind, the supreme commander of the armed forces, said: “Sad to learn that Group Captain Varun Singh breathed his last after putting up a valiant fight for life. Though badly injured in the chopper crash, he displayed the soldierly spirit of valour and indomitable courage. The nation is grateful to him. My condolences to his family.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Singh “served the nation with pride, valour and utmost professionalism.” He said he was “extremely anguished by his passing away” and added that Singh’s “rich service to the nation will never be forgotten. Condolences to his family and friends.” PM Modi said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who attended the cremation ceremony of the victims of the crash last week, mentioned that he was pained beyond words by the news. He said in a tweet, “Pained beyond words to learn of the demise of IAF pilot, Group Captain Varun Singh. He was a true fighter who fought till his last breath. My thoughts and deepest condolences are with his family and friends. We stand firmly with the family, in this hour of grief.”
The Air Force officer had suffered severe burn injuries, and had been critical, on life support since the crash. The Defence Minister had informed Parliament on December 9 that a tri-services inquiry had been ordered into the crash, which is being headed by Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, the senior-most serving helicopter pilot in the Air Force, who is the Commanding-in-Chief Training Command, and had also served as the Director General of Inspection and Flight Safety for the Air Force earlier.
Group Captain Singh, 39, was serving as Directing Staff at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, where the CDS was headed for a lecture last week. A decorated Air Force officer, Singh was awarded the Shaurya Chakra on Independence Day this year, for “high order of professionalism, composure and quick decision making, even at the peril to his life, he not only averted the loss of an LCA, but also safeguarded civilian property and population on ground.”
LCA is the Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas, which he was flying in October 2020, when he was a Wing Commander, and had a close call as the cockpit pressurisation failed at a high altitude.
However, despite being in “extreme physical and mental stress in an extreme life-threatening situation, he maintained exemplary composure and regained control of the aircraft, thereby exhibiting exceptional flying skill.” Then, the aircraft experienced total loss of control again at a height of 10,000 feet, and, instead of abandoning the aircraft, he landed it taking calculated risk. Singh belonged to a family of military officers. His father Col KP Singh retired from the Army Air Defence. Singh is survived by his wife and two children.
(Manas Dasgupta)