New Delhi, 14 January: After the completion of the Tri-Services Court of Inquiry into the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat’s helicopter crash on December 8, the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday officially disclosed the report of the probe for the first time.
The investigation report said that the CDS helicopter collided with the rock while trying to avoid the thick clouds. In this accident in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, 14 people including General Rawat, his wife Madhulika were killed.
The Tri-Services Court of Inquiry has presented its preliminary findings in the Helicopter Mi-17 V5 crash case of CDS General Bipin Rawat on December 08, 2021, the IAF said in a statement today.
The investigation team analyzed the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder besides interrogating all available witnesses to find out the most likely cause of the accident.
The Court of Inquiry has ruled out mechanical failure, sabotage or negligence as the cause of the accident.
The investigation report said that the CDS helicopter collided with the rock due to the pilot’s wandering while trying to avoid the thick clouds. The Court of Inquiry has also made some recommendations based on its findings which are being reviewed.
CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 other armed forces personnel lost their lives in the December 8 accident in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu.
After this, the Air Force constituted a Tri-Service Court of Inquiry under the leadership of Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, in which one commander each of the Army and Navy was also included.
The committee started the investigation expeditiously so that the facts related to the accident could come to the fore at the earliest.
Along with this, the Air Force had also advised to avoid any kind of baseless speculation till the completion of the investigation. The committee constituted under the leadership of Air Marshal Manvendra Singh completed its investigation and on January 5, along with Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhary, the Chief of the Air Staff, along with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, went to his residence and informed him about the report.
The inquiry committee has recorded the statements of the concerned officers of the Air Force and the Army. They also interacted with the local people who were eyewitnesses of the accident. The mobile phone from which the video was shot immediately before the crash has also been investigated. Investigation has found that CDS Rawat’s helicopter Mi-17V5 took off from Sulur Air Base at 11:48 am. Air traffic control lost contact with it at around 12:08 pm. An attempt has been made to collect important data related to the real causes of this accident through black box.
Within a month of the accident, the committee had completed the tri-service inquiry and sent the report for legal review, which has been disclosed today. Now this investigation report will be submitted to the government.
