Today, in the afternoon retired Army chief, General Bipin Rawat, who was the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) since 2019, along with his staff i.e the defense secretary, security commander, and air force pilots, and his wife met with the helicopter crash. Gen Bipin along with Chief of Army Staff MM Naravane was on a visit to Defence Service Staff College, Wellington(Nilgiri Hills) to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course Today. The army chopper left the Sulur Air Force Station around 11:50 am and the crash took place 30 minutes after it took off, due to the low visibility.
Confirming the incident in the afternoon at 2:30 pm, the Indian Air Force tweeted: “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.”
Tamil Nadu forest minister K Ramachandran, who visited the spot said that- “Fourteen people were on board the chopper. Seven bodies have been recovered so far according to information received. Efforts are on to rescue the remaining. Their condition is uncertain."
According to the sources, earlier, out of 14 people 7 passengers were found dead, and 3 passengers who were reported to have been rescued were said to have suffered serious injuries and were taken to the hospital at Wellington cantonment in Nilgiris district and General Rawat had received 70-80% burns on his body.
The army Helicopter carried 14 people out of which thirteen of them got killed in the crash including the top Indian Military officer Bipin Rawat along with his wife Mrs. Madhulika Rawat and his staff which took place near Coonoor in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu.
It was confirmed by IAF on Twitter at 6:00 pm today - "With Deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs. Mudhulika Rawat, and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate incident."
The Indian Air Force had also tweeted that- "Gp Capt Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC with injuries is currently under treatment at Military Hospital, Wellington."
General Bipin Rawat was appointed the first tri-service chief on December 31, 2019, after the government introduced the Chief Of Defence Staff.