Tri-Services Inquiry Into Crash: Rajnath Singh To Parliament

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today briefed the Parliament that a tri-service committee headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh who is the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training command, has been ordered by the government to inquire into the chopper crash that took the lives of Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and 12 others on Wednesday.

Singh also informed that the last rites of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat will be performed with full military honours, while the last rites of the other deceased would be performed with the appropriate military honours.

The remains of the deceased of would be bought back to Delhi by and Indian Airforce aircraft by today evening, said Singh in Parliament.

Singh also outlined out a timeline of the events that transpired. The helicopter took off from Sulur Air Base at 11:48 am, and was scheduled to land in Wellington at 12:15 pm. The airbase lost contact with the helicopter at 12:08 pm. A few locals found the wreckage of the helicopter engulfed in flames near Coonoor. Local authorities rushed to the spot and attempted to recover the survivors.

13 of the 14 persons on the helicopter have succumbed to their inquires, including CDS Rawat and his wife, Madhulika Rawat and 12 other defence officials. The one official on board, Group Captain Varun Singh, is on life support at Wellington Military Hospital.

Singh ended his statement by paying homage to the deceased.

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