Bipin Rawat chopper crash: A grim reminder of similar tragedies
From YS Rajasekhara Reddy to GMC Balayogi, India has lost several leaders to helicopter accidents, while there have been some lucky misses, too
An Indian Air Force helicopter carrying Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, crashed in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday. There were 14 people on board including Rawat, his wife and top defence personnel. The government is looking into the reasons for the accident.
The latest crash joins the long list of aerial tragedies in India that have cost the nation the lives of its leaders. There have been some lucky misses, too.
Also read: 11 onboard Army chopper confirmed dead; Defence minister to brief Parliament shortly
A quick recap
We give you a quick recap of Indian helicopter crashes involving people from public life.
In April 2011, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu died in a helicopter crash. Five days after the helicopter that he flying in went missing, he was found dead in Luguthang, near the China border.
In September 2009, then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, popularly known as YSR, crashed in a forest near Tirupati, while flying in a Bell 430 to Chitoor district. It took the rescue personnel 27 hours to find his body.
In March 2005, Haryana’s Power Minister OP Jindal (a renowned industrialist) and Agriculture Minister Surendra Singh were killed when the chopper carrying them crashed near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The tragedy was attributed to a technical snag.
Meghalaya Community Development Minister Cyprian Sangma, legislators HN Marak of United Democratic Party and Ardhendu Chowdhury of NCP, and former Deputy Speaker Aira Marak were killed in a helicopter crash in September 2004. They were headed to Shillong from Guwahati, when bad weather crashed the chopper.
In March 2002, Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam leader GMC Balayogi died as his chopper, following a technical snag, crashed near a fish pond at Kaikalur in Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna district. He was on his way from Bhimavaram in West Godavari district. An official probe found that the pilot, due to poor visibility, mistook the pond for a land surface.
In another tragic chopper crash in Arunachal Pradesh, State Education Minister Dera Natung was killed in a helicopter crash in May 2001. This was again due to poor visibility.
The fortunate escapes
Among the lucky ones, former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Minister Pratap Singh Bajwa survived a chopper accident in September 2006. Soon after take-off, the chopper hit electrical wires but the event was not fatal.
Similarly, former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal escaped unhurt after his chartered helicopter made an emergency landing in Ferozepur in September 2009. A probe pointed to a security breach on the part of the pilot.
In 2011, BJP leaders Rajnath Singh (now Defence Minister) and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (now Minority Affairs Minister) had a miraculous escape when their chopper landed close to a pile of dry grass that had caught fire. The pilot immediately took off again and landed at a different place
In 2001, a chopper carrying Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot fell on a tree in Churu district. He, however, had a lucky escape.
