The mortal remains of Gen Rawat and his wife are expected to reach Delhi by Thursday evening and will be cremated on Friday.
India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 other defence personnel died after the Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V5 helicopter carrying them crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday (December 8).
General Rawat was on his way to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course.
The chopper crashed in the Nilgiris district.CDS Rawat's DA Brigadier LS Lidder and SO Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, NK Gursewak Singh, NK Jitendra Kumar, L/NK Vivek Kumar, L/NK B Sai Teja, Hav Satpal were among other defence personnel on the ill-fated chopper.
Group Captain Varun Singh, SC, Directing Staff at DSSC, the sole survivor of the crash, is undergoing treatment at Military Hospital in Wellington.
Sources said the chopper crashed just minutes before reaching its destination in Tamil Nadu's Wellington.
The chopper took off at 11:48 am from the Sulur Air Base and was reported to be missing at around 12:22 pm, they said.
The mortal remains of Gen Rawat and his wife are expected to reach Delhi by Thursday evening and will be cremated on Friday.
- ANI
1. Childhood photo
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The childhood photo of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, who died in a chopper crash on Wednesday (December 8). (Photo: ANI)
2. General Rawat with his father
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General Bipin Rawat as a young Second Lieutenant with his father Lt Gen LS Rawat (then Brigadier) on December 16, 1978 at his commissioning in the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun beginning the ongoing 42-year plus journey in the Indian Army. (Photo: ANI)
3. NDA days
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File photo of NDA cross-country run. CDS Rawat in No 34. [Photo: Brigadier Mandeep Singh Sandhu (retd)]
4. Young and old
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A young General Bipin Rawat (left); file photo of Gen Rawat as Army Chief. (Photo: PTI)
5. General Rawat with wife Madhulika Rawat
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File photo of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat his wife Madhulika Rawat they died in a helicopter crash in Coonoor. (ANI Photo)
