“Human Error” caused CDS Gen Bipin Rawat’s chopper crash in 2021 at Coonoor: Parliamentary Panel
By Anish Kumar | First Published Dec 20, 2024, 8:18 AM ISTA probe into the 2021 helicopter crash that claimed 14 lives, including India's Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, has identified human error as the primary cause.
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence that the helicopter crashed on December 8, 2021, killing India’s first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 others, was due to “Human Error (Aircrew)”. The helicopter Russian-origin Mi-17 V5 crashed in the mountains near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu just before landing at the Defence Staff Services Colleges in Wellington town.
The Standing Committee report of the 18th Lok Sabha, which was tabled in the Lok Sabha on December 17, mentioned that a total of 34 accidents occurred from 2017-18 to 2021-22, with a maximum of 11 in 2018-19 and 9 in 2021-22.
Latest Videos
Of the 34 accidents, most of the crashes were caused due to human error (aircrew) and technical defects while two cases were of foreign object damage.
A total of 34 aircraft crashes took place since 2017-18 to 2021-22, also involving Gen Bipin Rawat's Mi-17V5 chopper, the Standing Committee on Defence report revealed. pic.twitter.com/86x1kQXQsP
— Anish Singh (@anishsingh21)The force also informed that the rate has declined from a peak of 0.93 in the period of 2000-2005 to 0.27 in 2017- 2022 and further declined to 0.20 in 2020-2024.
Report of tri-service inquiry committee:--
A day after the helicopter crash, defence minister Rajnath Singh on December 9, 2021 ordered a tri-service inquiry committee under Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, a helicopter pilot himself. In January 2022, the committee submitted its report that ruled out mechanical failure, sabotage or negligence as a cause of the accident.
The defence ministry had stated that the probe team analysed the flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder and questioned witnesses to come up with its preliminary report.
“The accident was a result of entry into clouds due to unexpected change in weather conditions in the valley,” the ministry said.
“This led to spatial disorientation of the pilot resulting in Controlled Flight into Terrain.”
subscribe to Asianet Newsable WhatsApp channel by clicking here. For more reliable and latest news
subscribe to Asianet Newsable Telegram channel by clicking here.