NEW DELHI, Dec 8: India’s first Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat were among the 13 killed in the military chopper crash in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. The only survivor in the helicopter crash was an Air Force Group Captain Varun Singh is being treated at the military hospital in Wellington for severe burns.
“With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident,” the Indian Air Force (IAF) tweeted.
Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course on Wednesday. The IAF had confirmed a little before two pm that an MI-17 V5 helicopter with General Rawat on board had “met with an accident near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu.”
The helicopter crashed shortly after it took off from the Air Force base in Sulur at 11.45 am, Coimbatore, for Wellington in the Nilgiri Hills. The General was heading to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington to address the faculty and students.
It was making its descent and would have landed in 10 more minutes when it came down, barely 10 km from a road. The Air Force has ordered an Inquiry into what happened. Videos showed steaming wreckage scattered on a hillside and rescuers struggling through smoke and fire to locate bodies. Charred bodies were pulled out from under mangled metal and fallen trees.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, briefed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, called a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) at his residence. The Defence Minister and Army Chief MM Naravane visited General Rawat’s home in Delhi long before the official announcement.
The Defence Minister called General Rawat’s death an “irreparable loss” to the country and the forces. General Rawat, 63, took charge as India’s first Chief of Defence Staff in January 2019. The position was created to integrate the three services – the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
The Chief of Defence Staff is the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and has to be the main military adviser to the Defence Minister besides giving impartial advice to the political leadership. A former Army Chief, General Rawat was also appointed the head of the newly-created Department of Military Affairs. The general joined the army as a second lieutenant in 1978 and had four decades of service behind him, having commanded forces in Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Actual Control bordering China.
Many former army chiefs expressed grief; they described the Mi-17 double engine chopper as a very stable aircraft used for VVIP flights An inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.
President of India Ram Nath Kovind tweeted: “I am shocked and anguished over the untimely demise of Gen. Bipin Rawat and his wife, Madhulika ji. The nation has lost one of its bravest sons. His four decades of selfless service to the motherland was marked by exceptional gallantry and heroism. My condolences to his family.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “I am deeply anguished by the helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu in which we have lost Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and other personnel of the Armed Forces. They served India with utmost diligence. My thoughts are with the bereaved families.”
(Manas Dasgupta)
