CDS Gen Bipin Rawat no more: A look at another chopper crash from 2015 ex-COAS survived

In a tragic helicopter crash that took place in the Coonoor area of Tamil Nadu, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat succumbed along with 13 others on Wednesday.This was not the first that General Bipin Rawat was involved in a chopper crash, earlier in 2015 when he was serving as the Lieutenant General he had been involved in a similar crash in the Dimapur area of Nagaland.

According to reports, General Rawat, along with three army personnel, was in a chopper that barely climbed 20 metres after taking off from Rabgapahar helipad in Nagaland's Dimapur district on February 3, 2015. In the said crash, however, General Rawat had luckily escaped with minor injuries.

General Rawat & his wife among 13 dead in chopper crash 

IAF earlier today made an announcement on the  IAF Mi 17 V5 helicopter with a crew of 4 members carrying the CDS and 9 other passengers that met with a tragic accident near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. "With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident," it stated. 

"Gp Capt Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC with injuries is currently under treatment at Military Hospital, Wellington," it added. 

14 people were involved in the crash including CDS General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat. Others who were on board included Defence Assistant to CDS Brigadier LS Lidder, SO to CDS Lt. Col. Harjinder Singh, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, Lance Naik B Sai Teja and Havaldar Satpal.  As per sources, 14 people left Delhi at 9 AM and reached Sulur at 11:35. At 11.45, he boarded the helicopter for Wellington, which crashed minutes before the landing at 12:20 PM. 

About Gneral Bipin Rawat 

After graduating from the National Defence Academy in 1978, he was commissioned into the Fifth Battalion of the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles of the Infantry, the Battalion which was Commanded by his father Lt. General Laxman Singh Rawat. Handling multiple operational portfolios, Rawat commanded an Infantry Battalion along the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Sector and a Rashtriya Rifles Sector in the Kashmir Valley.

He was also assigned to Command an Infantry Division along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and was Corps Commander in the North-East. As an Army Commander, he was responsible to oversee operations in the Desert sector, along the Western front. Prior to assuming charge as CDS, he has held multiple portfolios like General Staff Officer at Military Operations Directorate, the Colonel and later Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary's Branch, the Major General Staff of the Eastern Theatre, Vice Chief of the Army Staff. He was also the Chief of the Army Staff from 31 Dec 2016 to 31 Dec 2019 and was succeeded by Gen MM Naravane.

With a distinguished Army career spanning 42 years, Gen Bipin Rawat was appointed as India's first Chief of Defence Staff on 31 Dec 2019, a day before his retirement.