New Delhi: An Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper carrying Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and other defence personnel on board crashed in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor on Wednesday, killing among others, both the CDS and his wife.
Clearly, luck did not favour Gen Rawat a second time.
General Rawat had survived a helicopter crash six years ago too, in 2015, during his tenure as a Lieutenant General (LG).
General Rawat, along with three army personnel, was in a Cheetah helicopter that crashed seconds after taking off from Rabgapahar helipad in Nagaland’s Dimapur district on February 3, 2015, India Today reported.
The chopper had just taken off when the engine stalled at a height of about 20-ft off the ground. The helicopter crashed, resulting in minor injuries to those on board.
The army chopper had taken off on a routine sortie when it crashed at about 9.30 am. Defence PRO in Shillong, Amit Mahajan, had told PTI that the helicopter was damaged in the crash.
