More than a year-and-a-half after an Indian Air Force helicopter crashed, killing the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 others, the Tamil Nadu police are keeping the investigation pending for want of crucial evidence.
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Though investigators concurred with the findings of the tri-service inquiry that there was no sabotage, a conclusive report setting forth the reasons for and the circumstances that led to the crash is getting delayed as the police are awaiting copies of the weather clearance report issued on December 8, 2021, and the data from the Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder, police sources said on Friday.
The Upper Coonoor police had sought the documents from the IAF’s Sulur Air Force Station — from where the helicopter took off to the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington — and crashed minutes before landing. But they were told to approach the Directorate of Aerospace Safety, the sources said.
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“Our investigation is almost complete, but it will remain inconclusive in the absence of the evidence called for by the State police. We want to peruse the weather clearance report but the Air Force authorities [at Sulur] are not forthcoming. Letters have been addressed to them on these issues,” a senior police officer told The Hindu.
The tri-service inquiry, ordered into the crash of the Mi-17 V5 helicopter, had submitted its preliminary findings on January 14, 2022. It concluded that the crash occurred because of an “unexpected change” in weather conditions that led to spatial disorientation of the pilot, resulting in Controlled Flight into Terrain.
The helicopter crashed into a deep valley a few minutes before landing. Based on a complaint filed by the Village Administrative Officer, the Upper Coonoor police registered a case and took up investigation.
The IAF had issued a statement that the Court of Inquiry ruled out any mechanical failure, sabotage or negligence as the cause of the accident.