In an unspeakable tragedy, an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter carrying Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday afternoon. The senior officials were onboard to the Wellington Staff College for a lecture which was scheduled at 2:45 pm.
A total of 14 persons were confirmed to be on board the Mi-17 V5 helicopter, of which 11 have reportedly died while others including General Rawat have sustained serious injuries. Others on board included the CDS' wife Madhulika Rawat, Defence Assistant to CDS Brigadier LS Lidder, SO to CDS Lt. Col. Harjinder Singh, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, Lance Naik B Sai Teja and Havaldar Satpal.
Here is a detailed sequence of events preceding the crash and what led up to the tragic incident.
Sequence of events preceding the IAF chopper crash
9:00 AM- CDS General Rawat leaves from Delhi to address a lecture at Defence Services Staff College in Wellington
11:35 AM- CDS lands in Sulur, Coimbatore
11:45 AM- CDS departs for Wellington
11:45 AM- CDS departs from Chopper
12:20 PM- Chopper crash minutes before landing
06:05 PM - IAF confirms CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others dead in chopper crash
Rajnath Singh to brief parliament tomorrow
According to the latest information, a meeting of senior officials of the Ministry of Defence is currently underway. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has arrived at General Bipin Rawat's residence in New Delhi to personally brief the General's family members of the developments after the tragic crash. He was earlier expected to address the parliament, however, he exited the building shortly after entering.
Sources have now informed the Government is expected to issue an official statement on the crash by tomorrow. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been briefed about the unfortunate incident. Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari is expected to be visiting the crash site in Sulur personally by today evening to take stock of the situation.
08/12/21 Ananya Varma/Republicworld.com
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