NEW DELHI: India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, a serving brigadier and 10 more defence personnel died in an IAF helicopter crash in hilly terrain and foggy conditions near Coonoor, in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district, on Wednesday afternoon.
Here are 10 important stories about the accident, Gen Rawat’s decorated military career and all those who were on board the ill-fated chopper …
‘General Rawat was found alive after crash, died on way to hospital’
A leading fireman who was among the first to reach the crash site near Coonoor on Wednesday said that Gen Rawat was alive and able to say his name when he was extricated from the wreckage of the Mi-17V5 chopper. He said that CDS Rawat spoke in a low tone to the defence personnel in Hindi and uttered his name as he was being carried out. Read full story
Video shows ill-fated chopper moments before it crashed
A video taken by tourists of the ill-fated chopper moments before it crashed is being widely circulated. It shows the chopper disappearing into thick fog before it came crashing down. After the chopper’s noise stops abruptly, one of the tourist can be heard asking, “What happened. Did it crash?” with another responding “Yes, it seems so.” Watch here
‘Poor visibility, not technical fault, likely cause’
Foggy conditions and poor visibility could be factors that caused the crash, aviation experts said, though official word on the reason for Wednesday’s fatal accident is awaited. They said chances of technical faults are remote because it was a planned flight with VIP passengers. “The helicopter is capable of flying in bad weather, but the terrain was hilly and it appears to have fallen from a low altitude,” an expert said. Read full story
The big questions after Bipin Rawat’s demise
Air Vice-Marshal (retired) Manmohan Bahadur says that despite the Russia-made Mi-17V5 being the “trusted workhorse” of the air force, there will now be a thorough examination of its potential weaknesses after this incident. AVM Bahadur, who commanded a frontline helicopter unit and two flying bases during his 36-year-long service in the Indian Air Force, said the chopper is the aircraft of choice to ferry all Indian VIPs. Read full story
‘Gen Rawat was a total go-getter’
Gen Rawat made it very clear that as India’s first-ever CDS, his mandate was to push ‘jointness and integration’ among the Army, Navy and IAF despite stiff resistance, while also weaning the forces off their overwhelming dependence on expensive foreign weapon systems. “Gen Rawat was a total go-getter. He did not believe in being a status-quoist. In meetings, he would often go on the offensive in his typically blunt manner but if you knew your stuff and spoke with conviction, he would always listen intently,” said a senior military officer. Read full story
Gen Rawat was unscathed in 2015 crash
General Bipin Rawat had emerged virtually unscathed as a Lt-General when his single-engine Cheetah helicopter had crashed immediately after taking off from a helipad in Nagaland in February 2015. This time, fate decided otherwise in the far sturdier twin-engine Mi-17 V5 helicopter. Read full story
IAF man battling for life cheated death last year
The lone survivor among the 14 on board, Group Captain Varun Singh, has dodged death a second time while on duty. Now battling for life, the IAF officer had survived a life-threatening emergency while flying the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft in October last year. Read full story
Army chief Gen Naravane considered frontrunner for CDS post
Even as the Cabinet Committee on Security led by PM Narendra Modi met on Wednesday evening, sources said the government is likely to soon announce a successor to the country’s first-ever CDS Gen Bipin Rawat. Army chief General MM Naravane is considered to be the frontrunner for the CDS post, with IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar having taken over the reins of their forces on September 30 and November 30, respectively. Read full story
Gen Rawat was likely to visit in-laws’ in January
Gen Rawat regularly visited his in-laws’ in Shahdol, about 500km east of Bhopal, and he spent some delightful days there in 2012 with his mother-in-law Prabha Singh and other relatives. He shared a strong bond with his mother-in-law. Prabha is 82, and the family didn’t tell her about the crash during the hours the fate of the General and her daughter wasn’t known. The octogenarian, however, couldn’t shake off her uneasiness and came to know anyway. Read full story
Brig L S Lidder, defence assistant to Gen Rawat, was ‘set for a promotion’
Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder, who was commissioned in 2 JAK RIF in December 1990, was the defence assistant to Gen Bipin Rawat. He was among the victims of the ill-fated crash. An alumnus of National Defence Academy, Brig Lidder had also served in Jammu & Kashmir, Eastern sector and Military Operations Directorate. Family sources said that Brig Lidder was cleared for the next promotion to the rank of Major General. Read full story