BEHIND CDS BIPIN RAWAT CHOPPER CRASH

(The Quiver) The unfortunate incident occurred on December 8,2021 had left the whole nation in despair. When IAF’s Mi-17V5 chopper carrying CDS Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 10 others, crashed near Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor. In this crash Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, his Defence Adviser Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder, Staff Officer Lt Col Harjinder Singh and 10 other Armed Forces personnel also lost their lives.

On Wednesday, the IAF chopper crash inquiry report is submitted to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. As revealed from sources, the Indian Air Force gave a detailed presentation regarding this case to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh which lasted for over 45 minutes.

 It happened so, Mi-17 V5 Helicopter was following a railway line in the hills when it entered a thick cloud cover that emerged suddenly. The inquiry concluded that the pilots decided to fly out of the cloud cover rather than land as the chopper was flying at a low altitude. When they realised the terrain, the chopper had already hit a cliff in the process. It is even found that no distress call was made to ground stations as the entire crew was confident that they will be able to get out of the situation, as revealed from sources.

‘Master green’ pilots were flying the Mi-17V5 chopper. Master green pilots are best skilled pilots hired for the purpose of transport aircraft and helicopter fleets of the three forces who can land or take off in low visibility, sources added. In the report, the tri-services inquiry also made some recommendations for revising the Standard Operating Procedures while operating choppers carrying VIPs. For instance, the probe panel reportedly suggested that that the crew should be a mix of ‘master green’ and other categories of pilots in the future so that they can seek help from the ground stations if required.