CDS chopper crash: IAF thanks locals, officials for assistance in rescue operations
General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat were among the 14 people who were on board the ill-fated helicopter. Group Captain Varun Singh, the sole survivor, is undergoing treatment at a military hospital in Bengaluru.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday thanked the first responders, including locals and police officials, for their assistance in rescue operations following the helicopter crash on December 8 in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district, which resulted in the demise of 13 out of 14 people on board, including General Bipin Rawat, the country’s first and sitting Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
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The force also expressed gratitude towards chief minister MK Stalin’s Office (CMO) and district administration for their ‘prompt and sustained’ assistance.
“IAF thanks the prompt and sustained assistance provided by the Office and Staff of @CMOTamilNadu, @collrnlg, Police officials and locals from Katteri village in the rescue and salvage operation after the unfortunate helicopter accident,” it tweeted.
Wednesday’s crash took place when General Rawat was on his way to the Wellington-based Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), where he was scheduled to deliver a lecture. Also present on board were the defence chief’s wife Madhulika Rawat, and members of his staff: Brigadier LS Lidder, Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar and Lance Naik B Sai Teja.
From the IAF, Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan was piloting the chopper, while Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh was his co-pilot. Group Captain Varun Singh, and Junior Warrant Officers Rana Pratap Das and Arakkal Pradeep were also on board the ill-fated Mi-17V5.
Group Captain Singh, who is the sole survivor, was to be General Rawat’s liaison officer at the DSSC. A Shaurya Chakra awardee, he is currently being treated at a Bengaluru-based military hospital, where his condition is said to be ‘critical.’
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Defence minister Rajnath Singh announced in Parliament on Thursday, a day after the tragedy, that a tri-service Court of Inquiry (CoI), headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, has been constituted to probe the crash. On Friday, after the emergence of a video, allegedly of the last moments of the helicopter, the IAF urged everyone to ‘respect the dignity of the deceased’ and ‘avoid uninformed speculation.’
