IAF helicopter with CDS Bipin Rawat on board crashes in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: An Indian Air Force helicopter with India’s chief of defence staff General (retd) Bipin Rawat on board crashed in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter.

“An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu,” a Twitter post by the Indian Air Force said.

“An Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the cause,” it added.

More details are awaited.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh has asked Air Force Chief Vivek Ram Chaudhuri to visit the crash site, a person familiar with the matter said.

Pictures put out by news agency ANI of the crash site showed the mangled wreckage of the chopper in flames over hilly terrain.