IAF Chopper black box retrieved: 10 Points summary

1. General Bipin Rawat was on a scheduled visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington to interact with the Student Officers.

2. The Air Force Mi 17 V 5 helicopter took off from Sulur Air Base at 11:48 AM on Wednesday and was expected to land at Wellington by 12:15 PM. Air Traffic Control at Sulur Air Base lost contact with the helicopter at approximately 12:08 PM. The Mi-17 V5 helicopter was making its descent and would have landed in 10 more minutes. However, it crashed barely 10 km from the road. Indian Air Force has now ordered a court of Inquiry.

3. Few locals spotted a fire in the forest near Coonoor and rushed to the spot. The wreckage was was in flames. Rescue teams from the local administration reached the site and attempted to recover the survivors. All those recovered from the wreckage were rushed to the Military Hospital, Wellington. Latest reports have confirmed that out of the total 14 persons on board the ill-fated helicopter, 13 have succumbed to their injuries.

4. The dead include the spouse of the CDS, Mrs. Madhulika Rawat, his Defense Adviser Brig Lakhbinder Singh Lidder, Staff Officer Lt Col Harjinder Singh, and nine other Armed Forces personnel including the Air Force helicopter crew.

5. The slain include Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das, Junior Warrant Officer Arakkal Pradeep, Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, Lance Naik B Sai Teja.

6. Group Captain Varun Singh is on life support in the Military Hospital at Wellington and all efforts are being made to save his life. A tri-Service inquiry regarding the incident has been ordered by Indian Air Force. It will be headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, Air Officer Commanding - in - Chief, Training Command.

7. The Chief of Defense Staff would be cremated with full military honors.The funeral of General Rawat and his wife will take place tomorrow. Their bodies are expected to reach Delhi by a military plane today evening.

8. A special team of Air force officers led by Wing Commander R. Bhardwaj has recovered the black box of the ill-fated M 17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force in the dense forest area of Nachapurachathiram near the crash site at Katteri. Senior military officials have taken possession of the black box which was taken to the Defence Service Staff College in Wellington and handed over to the officials.

9. General Rawat, 63, took charge as India's first Chief of Defence Staff in January 2020. The position was created to integrate Army, Navy, and the Air Force. A former Army Chief, he was also appointed the head of the newly-created Department of Military Affairs.

10. The general joined the army as a second lieutenant in 1978 and had four decades of service behind him, having commanded forces in Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Actual Control bordering China.