CDS Chopper crash: Group Captain Varun Singh passes away in Bengaluru hospital
The pilot suffered severe burn injuries and was on a life support system at the Command hospital in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru: After battling for seven days, Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the chopper crash in Tamil Nadu, succumbed to injuries at Command hospital in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Group Captain Varun Singh, pilot of IAF Mi-17 helicopter which crashed at Coonoor in Nilgiris, was airlifted to Command hospital in Bengaluru from Wellington for treatment.
The pilot suffered severe burn injuries and was on a life support system at the Command hospital in Bengaluru. With the passing of Group Captain Varun Singh, the death toll in the chopper crash reached 14. No one survived the tragic chopper crash.
Air Force offered condolences to family of the pilot in a tweet, "IAF is deeply saddened to inform the passing away of braveheart Group Captain Varun Singh, who succumbed this morning to the injuries sustained in the helicopter accident on 08 Dec 21. IAF offers sincere condolences and stands firmly with the bereaved family."
IAF is deeply saddened to inform the passing away of braveheart Group Captain Varun Singh, who succumbed this morning to the injuries sustained in the helicopter accident on 08 Dec 21. IAF offers sincere condolences and stands firmly with the bereaved family.
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) December 15, 2021
The Air Force officer, highly qualified fighter pilot, was decorated with the Shaurya Chakra in August for his courage in handling his aircraft after it was hit by a snag during a sortie last year. He had managed to land his Tejas fighter safely.
In a tragic incident, the highest defence officer of India, India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Laxman Singh Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others died in a chopper crash near Tamil Nadu's Coonoor in the Nilgiris on December 8, Wednesday.
The chopper crashed shortly after it took off from the Air Force base in Sulur at 11.45 am, Coimbatore, for Wellington in the Nilgiri Hills.
General Bipin Rawat, is a four-star general of the Indian Army. He is the first and current CDS of India. On 30 December 2019, he was appointed as the first CDS of India and assumed office from 1 January 2020. Prior to taking over as the CDS, he served as 57th and last Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee as well as 26th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.
