Gen Bipin Rawat chopper crash: Not the first deadly incident in 2021

By Team Newsable | First Published Dec 8, 2021, 8:45 PM IST

This was not the first time this year that a military aircraft has gone down in India. Let's take a look at some incidents that occurred earlier this year.

An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter carrying CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife, and 11 employees crashed in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on Wednesday. According to the IAF statement, Gen Rawat was on his way to the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, in the Nilgiri Hills, where he was scheduled to address the professors and student officers of the Staff Course. But this was not the first time this year that a military aircraft has gone down in India.

Let's take a look at some incidents that occurred earlier this year:

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- On October 21, 2021, an Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 aircraft crashed in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district on a training mission. The pilot was hurt in the crash but was unharmed. Videos obtained with a cell phone showed primary pilot Abhilash floating down as he successfully escaped from the plane using a parachute.

- On August 25, 2021, an Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter plane crashed during a training flight in Rajasthan's Barmer. Villagers rushed the pilot to the hospital after he incurred minor injuries. In a tweet, the Indian Air Force stated that the MiG-21 Bison aircraft, which was flying for a training mission, encountered a "technical problem" shortly after takeoff.

- During a routine sortie on August 3, an Army helicopter carrying two pilots crashed into the Ranjit Sagar Dam in the Basholi area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district. 75 days later, the corpse of co-pilot Captain Jayant Joshi was found from the ocean in a combined Army-Navy operation. Meanwhile, on August 15, the body of the other pilot, Lieutenant Colonel AS Bath, was discovered. The Navy discovered fragments of the chopper during a search operation on September 9.

- On May 20, 2021, an IAF pilot was killed in a MiG-21 jet accident in Punjab's Moga region. At the disaster, the fighter jet was returning to Suratgarh following a regular training mission. Squadron Leader Abhinav Choudhary has been confirmed as the dead pilot.

Also Read | India loses one of its most decorated officers; CDS Gen Bipin Rawat dies in IAF chopper crash in TN

- On March 17, 2021, an IAF group captain was killed in an accident involving a Mig-21 Bison aircraft in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior. The disaster, which killed Group Captain Ashish Gupta, was the second involving a Bison aircraft this year; on January 5, a MiG-21 Bison crashed near Suratgarh in Rajasthan. Gupta was assigned to the Indian Air Force's elite Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE)

- On January 5, 2021, a MiG 21 Bison plane crashed during landing in Suratgarh, Rajasthan. According to preliminary accounts, the aircraft's pilot escaped the crash, and no property was damaged. The MiG-21 Bison fighter jet crashed near Suratgarh airfield in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar district, where the pilot is safe, and the administration has arrived. The fighter jet was on a routine practise fly. Following the explosion, the residents notified the administration.

Also Read | CDS Gen Bipin Rawat helicopter crash: All you need to know about IAF's Mi-17V5 chopper

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