CDS Gen Bipin Rawat Chopper Crash In Nilgiris District Coonoor Details

Army helicopter crashed near Coonoor in Nilgiris district and burst into flames on the kattery hill road.  It is said that the helicopter crash happened due to heavy fog and has caused an accident.

A helicopter belonging to the Indian Army crashed in a mountainous area called Kattery, near Coonoor in the Nilgiri district, while heading towards Wellington from Sulur airbase. Chief of Defence Staff of India Bipin Rawat was reportedly travelling in the Russian-made Mi-17 V5 chopper.

For a major meeting, 15 senior army officers were travelling from Sulur and headed for Wellington.  At that time, due to heavy fog and bad weather, the helicopter crashed and got fire. As per the information received so far, five bodies have been recovered in a fire-charred condition.

Three people have been rescued with burns and injuries caused by the crash. The rescue operation has been slackened due to the hilly terrain. Others have had trouble recovering the body. Police and fire personnel have rushed to the accident site. The district collector and top army officials have rushed. 

According to eyewitnesses, more bodies have been found trapped under the parts of the chopper. The heads of the three services of the Indian Armed Forces are Chief of Defence Staff  General Bipin Rawat was on board the helicopter that crashed.

It has been reported that his wife,  Madhulika Rawat, was also travelling with him. Their name is also on the passenger list for the same. The IAF also confirmed Bipin Rawat's visit on its Twitter handle.