General Bipin Rawat, India's first Chief of Defence Staff, was killed in a military chopper crash on Wednesday in Tamil Nadu. Rawat was 63 and his wife was also among the 13 deceased while a sole survivor of the crash has been getting treated at the Military Hospital in Wellington in the Nilgiris district. The crash has happened around 12.20 pm on Wednesday near Coonoor when Rawat was en route to deliver a lecture to the faculty and students of Defense Service Staff College in Wellington. 

As the nation has been mourning the loss of Bipin Rawat, who was a doyen of the Indian Armed Forces, the event of a similar crash has reminisced. According to reports, this was not the first time that Bipin Rawat was involved in an air accident. He had met one in 2015 during which he survived with minor injuries. Six years ago, Bipin Rawat had survived a chopper crash with minor injuries on February 3, 2015. Rawat was serving at the rank of Lieutenant General at that time and headed the army's Dimapur-based HQs 3 corps.

During that event in Nagaland, the chopper had climbed around 20 metres and crashed within seconds of taking off from Dimapur. Along with Rawat, two pilots, and another colonel had also survived the crash. Later, it was reported that the crash had happened due to suspected engine failure. Six years later, Rawat had died in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris on December 8. He was travelling in a Mi-17V5 series chopper operated by the Indian Air Force. 

This type of chopper has been labelled as a sophisticated carrier that can whir against difficult and challenging weather conditions. India has over 150 choppers of such model in its defence fleet and they were mainly imported from Russia and used to transport VVIPs including the President and the Prime Minister. The chopper was carrying 14 people - nine officials and five crew members and minutes ahead of landing, the chopper had lost its control and crashed on the ground.

Rawat's condition was not known immediately and hours later, the Indian Air Force confirmed that Rawat and his wife were among the 13 deceased. Taking to Twitter, the Indian Air Force said, "Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course today." "With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident", it added.

On Thursday, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said, "The last rites of CDS General Bipin Rawat will be performed with full military honours. The last rites of other military personnel will be performed with appropriate military honour." In a major announcement, the Defence Minister has further said that the Indian Air Force has ordered a tri-service inquiry into the military chopper crash and the investigation will be led by Air Marshal Manavendra Singh. He added that the inquiry team had reached Wellington on Wednesday and started the investigation. 

In an official statement concerning the crash which killed Bipin Rawat, the Indian Army has said, "The severity of air crash has led to difficulty in positive identification of mortal remains. All possible measures are being taken for positive identification considering the sensitivities and emotional well-being of the loved ones. Mortal remains will be released to the Next of Kin only after positive identification. Appropriate military rites of all personnel will be ensured in consultation with close relatives once the process of positive identification is completed."