CDS chopper crash: No distress call, ATC contacted to confirm landing in 7 minutes

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 9

The IAF has ordered a tri-service investigation led by Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, into the Mi-17 V5 chopper crash on Wednesday in which Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others of the armed forces were killed.

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The inquiry team reached Wellington yesterday and started the investigation, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told both Houses of Parliament this morning.

ATC lost contact 20 mins after take-off

• The IAF chopper was to land at Wellington by 12.15 pm. The Sulur Air Traffic Controller lost contact with the copter at 12.08 pm, 20 minutes after take-off, Rajnath Singh told Parliament

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Grey zone factor in the Nilgiris

• Copter took off from Sulur at 11.48 am, considered a grey zone due to unpredictable weather in Nilgiris after 11 am in winter. Probe to establish if plane carrying CDS from Delhi to Sulur was delayed

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Gp Capt Varun Singh shifted to Bengaluru

• Lone survivor Group Capt Varun Singh was shifted from Wellington in Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru for treatment. Having suffered 80 pc burns, his condition is “critical but stable”, sources said

The pilots of the ill-fated copter carrying General Rawat and his entourage had radioed to Air Traffic Controller (ATC) that the copter was descending to land at Wellington helipad, but had not given any distress call. The copter that took off from Sulur (Coimbatore) at 11.48 am was slated to land at 12.15 pm at Wellington, but the ATC lost contact with the copter at 12.08 pm. Sources said the copter established contact with the ATC to confirm landing in 7-8 minutes.

The IAF, meanwhile, has recovered the flight data recorder (black box) of the copter. The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder will ascertain what happened between the call to the ATC informing that the copter was descending to land and the crash.

The initial assessments from eyewitness accounts suggest that the copter may have hit a “terrain”, in this case the hills. The helicopter debris was strewn over a large area of the valley, suggesting it hit a hill before hurtling down and catching fire, sources said. Weather reports suggest there was sudden clouding in the area. The helicopter took off from Sulur after 11 am — considered a grey zone because of the unpredictable weather in the Nilgiris after 11 am in winter. Also, it will be established if the military plane carrying General Rawat from Delhi to Sulur was delayed, hence delaying the take-off from Sulur beyond 11 am – the grey zone.

Investigators will also find out if Chief of Defence Staff General Rawat was told about the possible bad weather en route. A road cavalcade was kept ready for them to use at Sulur.

The lone survivor, Group Captain Varun Singh, most likely was thrown out of the aircraft after it hit a “terrain” and started to disintegrate.

The ill-fated Mi17V5 helicopter, manufactured by Russian Helicopters’ subsidiary Kazan, had an onboard weather radar and was equipped with the latest generation of night vision devices.

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