Flight data recorder of Rawat's chopper recovered

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Wreckage of the crashed IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. Photo: PTI

Coonoor, Ooty: Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari, the head of the Indian Air Force, has arrived at the site of the ghastly chopper crash that claimed the lives of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and a dozen other military personnel.

The Air Chief Marshal carried out an inspection of the helicopter wreckage at the crash site on Thursday morning. Other senior military and civil officers also accompanied him.

The flight data recorder (FDR) of the crashed helicopter was recovered during the inspection.

Official sources said the black box was retrieved in the wake of authorities expanding the search area from 300 metres to one km from the accident spot.

The black box would provide crucial data on the chain of events leading to the tragedy on the hills on Wednesday when the 63-year old Rawat, the country's first CDS, his wife and 11 others were killed when the Mi-17VH helicopter they were travelling in crashed and went up in flames, leaving only one survivor.

The helicopter, Mi-17V5, that was carrying General Bipin Rawat and 13 other people, crashed at a forested area in Coonoor, near Ooty, around 12.20pm on Wednesday. The chopper had crashed shortly after taking off from the Sulur Air Force Station near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. They were heading to Wellington, where the Defence Services Staff College is located.

Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika were among the 13 people who were killed in the chopper accident. Group captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor, who escaped with severe injuries is battling for life at the Military Hospital at Wellington, near Ooty.

Meanwhile, a six-member special medical team from Coimbatore is attending the treatment of the lone survivor in the Coonoor helicopter crash, Group captain Varun Singh who is struggling for his life at the Wellington Army hospital.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, who is at Nilgiris, has already communicated to the Army team that the Tamil Nadu government would support the medical treatment of Group captain Varun Singh.

Sources at Wellington said that Group captain Varun Singh, who is a Shaurya Chakra awardee, suffered 60 per cent burns during the copter crash.

Ravikumar, who was the first person to reach the accident spot, had told IANS that except for two people the bodies of all the other soldiers were burnt.

Further forensic examination of the remains of the chopper can also reveal if there were external causes for the accident.

In addition, Varun Singh can also provide first hand information on the flight.

(With agency inputs.)

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