India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, tragically died in a Mi-17 V5 helicopter crash on December 08, 2021. A parliamentary panel report has attributed the accident to “human error.”
A military helicopter carrying Gen Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and several other members of the armed forces crashed near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, resulting in their deaths.
The Standing Committee on Defence presented statistics on the number of Indian Air Force aircraft crashes that occurred during the 13th Defence Plan period in a report that was introduced in Parliament on Tuesday.
Thirteen crashes occurred in total, including nine involving IAF aircraft in 2021–2022 and 11 in 2018–19.
The report’s tabulated data also included a column titled “reason” that, in addition to the aircraft type, date and accident, provided the cause of the accidents during that period.
The aircraft was identified as “Mi-17” in the report’s data for the 33rd accident, which occurred on “08.12.2021” and had “HE(A)” or “human error (aircrew)” as the cause.
The Committee was told by the defence ministry that 34 probes into these incidents had been carried out throughout that period.
“The ministry also informed that the recommendations by these Inquiry committees review the process, procedure, training, equipment, culture, operations, maintenance and administration holistically with intent to prevent recurrence of an accident,” the report read.
The ministry also stated that “all corrective actions outlined in the Chief of the Air Staff’s remarks are legally binding and implemented.”
“Most have been actioned while a few are under implementation,” it continued.
Also Read: Ahmedabad: Man Caught with Rs 3.60 Cr Worth of Drugs
