Polish envoy to India, Burakowski mourns demise of CDS Gen Bipin Rawat in chopper crash

The Polish ambassador to India, Adam Burakowski has extended his ‘deepest condolences’ to India’s late Chief of Defence Staff [CDS] Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and to the bereaved families of 11 defence personnel who lost their lives after Russian-made Mi-17 chopper crashed on Wednesday in Nilgiri Hills near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. "Deepest condolences to the Family of General Bipin Rawat and the Families of those who died in the tragic crash. R.I.P.”, Burakowski tweeted. 

In somewhat a similar tragedy, Poland had lost its president, Lech Kaczynski, his wife, several key political leaders and at least 96 other people after a Tupulov Tu-154 plane came down at 11 am (7 am GMT) about a mile (1.5km) from Smolensk airport in Russia in April 2010. Tragically, the Polish presidential plane did not make it to the runway and burst into flames after the crash, killing everyone aboard in one of the most devastating air catastrophes for the European nation. 

India lost its 63-year-old top military commander, Gen. Rawat after his chopper took off from the Air Force base in Sulur, Coimbatore, for Wellington in the Nilgiri Hills. He and the others had flown1,500 miles from India's capital New Delhi and were header for Defence Services Staff College in Wellington to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course. The Indian Air Force informed that the crash killed its two other senior military officers, five commandos and five Air Force personnel. One senior military officer, a lone survivor Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, who piloted the chopper is now being treated in a hospital for severe burns and injuries and is battling for his life.

PM Modi condoles tragedy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed shock at the demise of "an outstanding soldier” [CDS Gen. Rawat] saying that the incident "saddened me deeply."A true patriot," wrote Prime Minister Modi on Twitter of India’s CDS, adding that Rawat had "greatly contributed to modernizing our armed forces and security apparatus.” An Army veteran of counterinsurgency warfare, CDS Rawat had served in some of the most tactically challenging terrains including northern and eastern commands. He was commissioned into the Indian Army in December 1978 and served as Chief of the Army Staff from January 2017 to December 2019. 

The mortal remains of the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika and other deceased Armed Forces personnel will arrive in Delhi by evening on December 9. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement regarding the IAF chopper crash at Tamil Nadu's Coonoor, in both Houses of Parliament, Thursday. Indian Airforce IAF has ordered an inquiry to determine the cause of the crash.

IAF's ‘workhorse’ Mi-17V5 most sophisticated military transport helicopter

IAF’s ‘workhorse’ Mi-17V5,  a twin-engine upgraded derivative of the Mi-8,  is considered by the forces among the most sophisticated military transport helicopters that is used as VVIP chopper for Prime Minister Modi, gunship, and military personnel transport. IAF has been operating the Mi-8 since 1971 and inducted 107 of the helicopters by 1988. These Russian built helicopters were deployed in the 1971 war with Pakistan for carrying the missiles and guns, the IPKF mission in Sri Lanka and the Indian military intervention in the Maldives.

The helicopters were retired in 2017. The Mi-17 choppers, an upgraded version of Mi-17 features a more powerful engine and was introduced by the Soviet Union in 1981. As per Russian arms conglomerate Rosoboronexport, the Indian Air Force purchased 300 helicopters of the Mi-8 and Mi-17 in 2017. The Mi-17V5 is a more powerful variant of the VK-2500 engines of the Mi-17, has powerful airborne weather radar, and is equipped for flying in the night to conduct commando operations.