Chopper crash kills CDS
Bipin Rawat and 12 others
“With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident,” IAF said in a statement on Twitter.
The dead include Rawat’s defence assistant Brigadier LS Lidder and the CDS’s staff officer Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, it is learnt. Fourteen people, including the chopper’s crew, were on board the Russian-origin Mi-17V5, a modern and reliable military helicopter that was being flown by Wing Commander PS Chauhan, the commanding officer of 109 Helicopter Unit, and his co-pilot Squadron Leader K Singh. The other two IAF personnel on board were junior warrant officers Rana Pratap Das and Pradeep A.
The army identified the others killed as Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitender Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar and Lance Naik BS Teja.
“Gen Bipin Rawat was an outstanding soldier. A true patriot, he greatly contributed to modernising our armed forces and security apparatus. His insights and perspectives on strategic matters were exceptional. His passing away has saddened me deeply. Om Shanti,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter.
The PM added that, as India’s first CDS, Rawat worked on diverse aspects relating to the armed forces including higher defence reforms and brought with him rich experience of serving in the army. “India will never forget his exceptional service.”
IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari rushed to the crash site to take stock of the situation. An inquiry has been ordered into the crash, the air force said.
Rawat was on a visit to the prestigious Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) at Wellington to address the faculty and student officers there, officials said. Singh, the sole survivor of the crash and a decorated fighter pilot, is directing staff at DSSC.
The chopper was on its way from the Sulur air base to DSSC when it went down near Coonoor. The CDS, his wife and seven others had flown to Sulur from New Delhi in an Embraer jet of the IAF’s VVIP communication squadron.
The helicopter’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, if undamaged, will give clues to what went wrong during the last moments before the crash, said Air Vice Marshal Manmohan (retd), former additional director general, Centre for Air Power Studies. “Any aircraft accident is shocking. The Mi-17V5 has a good flight safety record, it’s a reliable machine and pilots swear by it,” Bahadur added.
The Mi-17V5 can carry a load of around four tonnes in a cargo role. It can fly at extremely low altitudes and insert troops behind the enemy lines.
THEATERISATION DRIVER
The CDS’s shocking demise will have implications for the ongoing military reforms, including theaterisation, and the government will have to move swiftly to announce a succession plan. Rawat survived a Cheetah crash in Dimapur in February 3, 2015. He was a lieutenant general at that time.
Rawat was spearheading the military’s theaterisation drive to enhance the effectiveness of the armed forces and reshape the conduct of future operations. Rawat took over as CDS on December 31, 2019, after serving as army chief for a full three-year term. He held the four-star rank for almost five years.
“General Rawat epitomised military professionalism like no one else. He was driven by his own convictions. He took strong decisions even if they were not popular. The organisation’s interest was topmost for him and he didn’t really care about his own popularity,” said Lieutenant General BS Sandhu (retd), who knew Rawat for more than 45 years and was his course mate at the Khadakwasla-based National Defence Academy.
(Source : Hindustan Times)
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