The Indian Air Force stated that Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other individuals on board an Indian Air Force helicopter died in an accident near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
“It has now been confirmed that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other passengers on board died in the sad mishap,” the IAF tweeted.
Indian Air Force’s Group Captain Varun Singh, injured in military chopper crash, was awarded Shaurya Chakra on this year’s Independence Day for saving his LCA Tejas fighter aircraft during an aerial emergency in 2020. pic.twitter.com/BR53FlS18M
— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2021
Rawat was scheduled to speak to faculty and student officers at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) today, according to the Indian Air Force. It stated that around noon, an IAF Mi 17 V5 chopper with a crew of four personnel carrying the CDS and nine other passengers crashed near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu.
The only survivor of the tragic occurrence, according to the IAF, is Gp Capt Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC. He has been injured and is being treated at the Military Hospital in Wellington.
On this year’s Independence Day, Gp Capt Varun Singh received the Shaurya Chakra for saving his LCA Tejas fighter plane during an aerial emergency in 2020.
