General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian armed forces, was killed yesterday in a crash while travelling on an Indian Air Force Mi-17V-5 helicopter to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) in Tamil Nadu.
The crashed helicopter that claimed the lives of 12 other people, including his wife, Madhulika Rawat, was a Mi-17V-5, claimed to be the workhorse of the IAF medium helicopter fleet, with the service having placed orders for 151 of the type since 2008. The first batch of helicopters was delivered in November 2011.
The Mi-17V-5 is powered by Klimov VK2500 engines, each putting out 2,700 hp and is especially suited for high-altitude operations. The helicopter has a Maximum Take-Off Weight of 13 tonne, including a payload of four tonne.
Designed by Russia’s famed Mil design bureau, the Mi-8/17 series of helicopters are amongst the most successful helicopter models ever produced.
Images from the crash site show the helicopter almost completely burnt by the fire following the crash, with only the helicopter’s tail boom intact.
The sole survivor of the crash is an IAF pilot, Group Captain Varun Singh, who is seriously injured and receiving treatment at the Military Hospital, Wellington. Group Captain Singh is a Directing Staff at DSSC.
The twin-engine Russian built Mi-17V-5 helicopter had a crew of four and crashed around noon into a hilly area near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. The air force has ordered an inquiry to ascertain the cause of the accident.