views
An Army chopper carrying Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, his staff and at least one family member, crashed in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor at around 12.20 pm on Wednesday, with no information yet about the condition of the CDS. In a tweet, the Air Force said, “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.”
Five bodies have been recovered after the crash took place in the Nilgiris, shortly after the Mi-series chopper took off from the army base in Sulur. Here’s a timeline of the unfortunate crash:
• A special aircraft departures from Delhi at around 9 am on Wednesday.
• Nine persons, including Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and his wife are onboard.
• The aircraft arrives at the Sulur Air Force Station at 11.35 am.
• Fourteen people – 5 crew members and 9 persons including CDS Rawat and wife — departure for Willington in the Air Force’s Mi-17V5 helicopter at 11.45 am.
• The accident takes place at Nanchapa Chatharam, Katteri area at 12.20 pm.
• The distance between Sulur Air Force Station and the accident spot is about 94 km.
• The distance between the accident spot and the Wellington Army Camp is about 16 km.
• Time to reach Wellington Army camp from the accident spot is just five minutes.
Visuals from the site of the Indian Air Force helicopter crash showed massive flames and locals helping with the immediate rescue operations. Several teams are at the site carrying out search and rescue operations. Local military officers have reached the location, ANI reported.
Official sources said all the injured people on board the Mi-17V5 helicopter have been evacuated from the spot of the accident. The Chief of Defence Staff was on his way to the Defence Staff College in Wellington.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment