Human error behind chopper crash that killed CDS Bipin Rawat: Report

The Mi-17 V5 helicopter crash resulted in the deaths of Gen Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and several armed forces personnel, who were on their way to Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. Gen Rawat was en route to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) to address faculty and student officers later that day. The accident was widely covered by the media.

Gen Rawat assumed the role of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on December 31, 2019, after serving a full three-year term as the Army Chief.

Notably, he survived a Cheetah helicopter crash in Dimapur on February 3, 2015, when he was a lieutenant general.