NEW DELHI, India (AP) — India’s military chief, Gen. Bipin Rawat, and 12 others were killed Wednesday in a helicopter crash in southern Tamil Nadu state, the air force said.
It said in a tweet that the helicopter “met with a tragic accident.”
The dead included Rawat’s wife. The air force said one officer, Group Capt. Varun Singh, survived and is being treated in a military hospital.
The air force said Mi-17V5 helicopter was on its way from an air force base to the army defense services college when it crashed near the town of Coonoor, a hill station in Tamil Nadu. The reason for the crash was not immediately known.
Television images from the crash site showed plumes of smoke billowing from the debris as local residents tried to put out the fire and remove bodies from the wreckage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Rawat had contributed greatly to modernizing the country’s armed forces. “His insights and perspectives on strategic matters were exceptional,” Modi said.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said Rawat “served the country with exceptional courage and diligence.”
Archrival Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, expressed his condolences on the “tragic death” of Rawat and his wife, its government said in a tweet.
The air force said an inquiry has been ordered into the accident.
Rawat, 63, was the most senior official in the Indian military and the first chief of defense staff, a position created by the government in 2019. He was also an adviser to the Defense Ministry.
His primary task was to overhaul the military, which has struggled to modernize and improve coordination among the army, navy and air force.
He previously served as chief of army staff and also commanded forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir and along the frontier with China. He was a veteran of counterinsurgency operations.
In 2015, Rawat oversaw Indian “surgical strikes” into neighboring Myanmar, when para-commandos entered the country to attack Naga rebels who had ambushed and killed Indian troops.
Rawat earlier survived a helicopter crash in 2015 in the northeast state of Nagaland.
The type of military transport helicopter that crashed Wednesday, Mi-17V5, is widely used in India by the army and ministers when visiting defense locations.
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No SOS before chopper crash killed Indian military chief
NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian air force helicopter that crashed and killed the military chief, Gen. Bipin Rawat, and 12 others lost contact with air traffic control seven minutes before it was supposed to land and sent no distress call before it was found in flames in a forested area, India’s defense minister said on Thursday.
Rawat, 63, his wife and 11 army and air force personnel on board were killed in the crash on Wednesday. The lone survivor, air force Capt. Varun Singh, is being treated in a military hospital, the air force said.
Singh said that a military inquiry committee started work hours after the crash. Media reports said voice and data recorders, the black box, have been recovered from the site.
Mi-17V5 helicopter was on its way from an air force base to the army defense services college when it crashed near the town of Coonoor, a hill station in Tamil Nadu. The reason for the crash was not immediately known.
Television images showed plumes of smoke billowing from the debris as local residents tried to put out the fire and remove bodies from the wreckage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Rawat had contributed greatly to modernizing the country’s armed forces. “His insights and perspectives on strategic matters were exceptional,” Modi said.
The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi extended its condolences, calling Rawat “a strong friend and partner of the United States, overseeing a major expansion of India’s defense cooperation with the U.S. military.”
In September, Rawat spent five days traveling in the U.S. as part of a counterpart visit with Gen. Mark Milley to discuss military developments and opportunities to enhance cooperation between the two countries, the embassy said.
He previously served as chief of army staff and also commanded forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir and along the frontier with China. He was a veteran of counterinsurgency operations.
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