CDS chopper crash: 4 IAF personnel, 2 army soldiers identified
Earlier, the bodies of CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and Brigadier LS Lidder were identified and laid to rest with full military honors.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 11 Dec 2021 5:28 AM GMT
Four IAF personnel and two soldiers of the Indian Army, who died at the Coonoor Mi-17 V-5 helicopter crash at Coonoor, have been identified.
The IAF officers identified include Junior Warrant Officers Rana Pratap Das and Arakkal Pradeep, the pilot of the helicopter Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, and the co-pilot Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh.
The army soldiers identified include Lance Naik B Sai Teja and Lance Naik Vivek Kumar. Both of them were the Personal Security Officers (PSOs) for the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat.
The mortal remains will be airlifted to their respective hometowns on December 11 by IAF Aircraft.
According to official information, the mortal remains are expected to be airlifted to the following destinations at the following time:-
JWO Arakkal Pradeep Sulur/ 11 am
Wg Cdr Chauhan/ Agra/ 9:45 am
Sqn Ldr Kuldeep/ Pilani/ 11:45 am
JWO Das/ Bhubaneswar/ 1 pm
L/Nk B Sai Teja/ Bangalore/ 12:30 pm
L/Nk Vivek Kumar/ Gaggal/ 11:30 am
Earlier, the bodies of CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and Brigadier LS Lidder were identified and laid to rest with full military honors.
The sole survivor, Group Captain Varun Singh is on life support at the IAF Command Hospital in Bengaluru.
The Mi-17 V-5 helicopter carrying CDS, his wife, and 12 other staff crashed at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on 8th December at 12:20 pm. The CDS was en route to Defence Staff Service College in Wellington when his chooper crashed.
