Tri-services COI will investigate Mi-17 V5 crash, Rajnath informs Parliament
The entire top echelon of the Government, defence services, and Parliament on Thursday paid tributes to Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and other military personnel who were killed in a deadly helicopter crash on Wednesday in Tamil Nadu.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh drove to the Palam airport and laid wreath on their mortal remains after these arrived from Wellington in the evening. The chiefs of the three Services besides National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval were present to pay their homage.
Gen Rawat, his wife Madhulika Singh and 12 other were killed on Wednesday when an Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopter crashed just before landing.
In Parliament, Rajnath informed the MPs about the sequence of events leading to the helicopter crash.
The Defence Minister apprised both the Houses of Parliament that the last rites of Gen Rawat and his wife will be performed with full military honours at Brar Square, Delhi Cantonment, on Friday.
The last rites of other military personnel will also be performed with appropriate military honours, he said.
Members of both the Houses observed silence for a brief as a mark of respect. Moreover, the Opposition decided to refrain from its agitation on Thursday against the backdrop of the tragic accident.
Meanwhile, the search and rescue teams recovered the flight data recorder or the black box from the crash site near village Kateri close to Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington. This recovery will help the investigators to find out the cause of the mishap of the helicopter.
Rajanth also said the lone survivor Group Captain Varun Singh was on life support system and all efforts were on to provide him the best medical care. It was learnt the fighter pilot was airlifted from Wellington to Bengaluru late on Thursday.
They also said positive identification of only three mortal remains were possible as of now, including Gen Rawat, his wife and Brigadier LS Lidder. Their mortal remains will be released to their next of kin for final rites as desired by respective families, officials said here on Thursday.
Mortal remains of Gen Rawat were laid for all to pay their last respects at his residence, 3 Kamaraj Marg here. As regards the ceremonies related to the final rites, sources said civil dignitaries and citizens can pay their respects from 11 am to 12.30 pm on Friday followed by military personnel paying respects from 12.30 to 1.30 pm
The final journey of Rawat from his residence to the Brar Square Crematorium is scheduled to start from his residence about 1400 hours, they added. Officials said positive identification of remaining mortal remains was continuing.
Mortal remains will be kept at the mortuary of Army Base Hospital till completion of positive identification formalities. Appropriate military funerals of all deceased were being planned and coordinated in close consultation with close family members.
Besides Rawat, India’s first CDS and its most senior military officer, and his wife, those who died were Defence Adviser Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder, Staff Officer Lt Colonel Harjinder Singh and nine other personnel, including the Air Force helicopter pilot, Rajnath informed Parliament.
The nine are Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan(pilot and commander of the helicopter), Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das, Junior Warrant Officer Arakkal Pradeep, Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, Lance Naik B Sai Teja, he said.
The Minister said Air Marshal Manavandera Singh will head the tri-service court of inquiry to find out the cause of the accident leading to the death of 13 out of 14 passengers. Manavandera himself is also a helicopter pilot and is now the chief of the IAF Training Command.
In Wellington, where Rawat was scheduled to give a lecture at the DSSC on Wednesday, the mortal remains of the victims in caskets wrapped in the Indian tricolour were taken to the Madras Regimental Centre, Wellington, on Thursday. Chief Minister M K Stalin, several State Ministers, senior Army officials and veterans laid wreaths and paid floral tributes.
The remains were later taken to Coimbatore by road, about 70 km away, from where they were flown to New Delhi in a special IAF aircraft.
In his statement, Rajnath said the Indian Air Force Mi-17V5 helicopter took off from Sulur air base at 11.48 a.m. on Wednesday and was scheduled to land at Wellington at 12.15 p.m.
The Air Traffic Control at Sulur airbase lost contact with the helicopter at approximately 12.08 p.m. Later, a few locals reported a fire in the forest near Coonoor and rushed to the spot where they saw the remains of a helicopter engulfed in flames.
Rescue teams from local administration also reached the crash site and tried to recover survivors, he said. “All those recovered from the wreckage were immediately rushed to the military hospital at Wellington.”
IAF chief Chaudhari was sent to the spot after receiving information about the accident on Wednesday itself, Rajnath said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressed grief at Gen Rawat’s untimely demise and said the country had lost a skilled warrior, an outstanding strategist and an experienced leader.
In Rajya Sabha, Deputy Chairman Harivansh said the CDS had an illustrious military career spanning over four decades during which he held several important staff positions and went on to become the Chief of Army Staff on December 31, 2016.