New Delhi: Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others died on Wednesday after an Indian Air Force Mi-17V-5 helicopter with 14 people onboard crashed in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor.


Group Captain Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC, and the sole survivor, is undergoing treatment for injuries at the Military Hospital, Wellington. A court of inquiry has been ordered into the accident, the IAF said.


CDS Rawat was on his way to the Defence Staff College in Wellington. The military chopper crashed somewhere between Coimbatore and Sulur in Tamil Nadu. 


Fourteen people, including nine persons and five crew members, departed for Defence Staff College in Wellington in the Air Force’s Mi-17V-5 helicopter at 11.45 am.



Havildar Satpal Rai


Here is the list of the persons onboard the helicopter:


Gen Bipin Rawat, CDS
Madhulika Rawat 
Brig LS Lidder, Defence Adviser to the CDS 
Lt Col Harjinder Singh, Special Officer to the CDS
Naik Gursewak Singh, PSO
Naik Jitendra Kumar, PSO
Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, PSO
Lance Naik B Sai Teja, PSO 
Havildar Satpal, PSO






The accident is believed to happened due to low visibility owing to foggy conditions. TV visuals showed the badly damaged chopper in flames. The mangled and burnt remains of the IAF chopper were strewn along the site.


The CM also spoke to Coonoor District Magistrate Amrith and instructed him to speed up rescue operation, sources said.