New Delhi, 9th December 2021:
In one of the major air crash India has witnessed in recent times, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff(CDS), the country’s most senior serving soldier, General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, when he was flying to give a lecture at the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington.
He was traveling in a Russian made Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V-5 helicopter along with his wife, Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other armed forces personnel. The only survivor was the pilot, Group Captain Varun Singh, who is battling for his life in Military Hospital Wellington.
The incident shocked the entire top the Indian government and PM Narendra Modi in his message said, General Bipin Rawat was “an outstanding soldier” and “a true patriot” who greatly contributed to modernising India’s armed forces and security apparatus. “As India’s first CDS, General Rawat worked on diverse aspects relating to our armed forces including defence reforms.”
Rawat and his team flown in the morning in an Embraer Legacy jet from Delhi to Sulur Air Force Base, near Coimbatore. At Sulur, they transhipped to a Mi-17 helicopter for the short trip to Wellington and land at the DSSC helipad.
Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh said the bodies of the victims will be flown to Delhi. A tri-service enquiry, led by Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, is presently underway, he added. He also said Group Captain Varun Singh, decorated with the Shaurya Chakra on Independence Day this year, who was the lone survivor of the crash, is on life support and all efforts are being made to save him.
It remains unclear whether the accident took place because clouds caused the pilots to misjudge the terrain, or whether a mechanical failure had occurred.
General Bipin Rawat, India’s first CDS, was a visionary who initiated far reaching reforms in the Indian military’s higher defence organisation. He was instrumental in creating the foundation of India’s joint theatre commands and giving impetus to the increased indigenisation of military equipment, a legacy which will be carried on and strengthened by successive generations.
( Pix Courtesy: Internet)
