New Delhi: As the tragic death of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and his entourage shocked the nation, there are concerns raised on whether the IAF did a recce flight of the route before the Mi-17V5 took off from Sulur airbase for the helipad at Wellington carrying the defence personnel on Wednesday.
The high-level inquiry into the Mi-17V5 helicopter that crashed killing 13 people onboard has been initiated by the Indian Air Force under a three-star officer focusing on technical defects, human error even the likelihood of sabotage being considered extremely remote, as per the Times of India report.
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Going by the official sources of the publication, two small IAF choppers were directed to check the route under the protocol to gauge the weather conditions in the Nilgiris.
However, the report quoted the official saying, “We are not sure whether the choppers landed at the Wellington helipad or returned without landing”.
In a contradictory statement, a senior official from the Madras Regimental Centre at Wellington told the publication, “Actually no trial runs by small choppers were made as the Mi-17V5 is a reliable aircraft.”
While another official from the Defence Services Staff College, where Gen Rawat was expected to deliver a lecture, didn’t comment on the matter.
While eyewitnesses present at the spot said they had not seen or heard another chopper anytime during the day.
Meanwhile, the government has begun the process to appoint a successor to General Bipin Rawat as the country’s next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), who apart from other tasks also functions as the military advisor to the Nuclear Command Authority chaired by the Prime Minister.