India's major military aviation disasters & all you need to know about them

An Indian Air Force chopper carrying Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat crashed near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday, December 8. The Mi-17 V5 helicopter was carrying 14 people, 13 of whom have died, including CDS Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika. The only survivor of the accident, according to the IAF, is Group Captain Varun Singh. He is on life support at Wellington's Military Hospital. However, it is not the first time a military aircraft has gone down. There have been numerous instances in the past where military aircraft have crashed due to an ageing fleet or technical issues. The dreadful event that occurred on Wednesday serves as a dismal reminder of previous military aviation mishaps. It also highlights India's major problem with military aviation disasters, which have resulted in multiple deaths involving top military personnel. Bhutan air crash bears striking similarities to Coonoor's Coonoor's terrible episode bears striking similarities to an incident that occurred more than three decades ago. In 1993, a senior Indian Army officer was killed in a helicopter crash that also involved a Mi-17 helicopter, adverse weather, and the officer's wife. Eastern Command chief Lt. Gen. Jameel Mahmood, his wife, Military Assistant Col M.N. Ahmed, Lt Lakshman Tyagi, orderly Naik G. Thyagarajan, his personal bodyguard Havildar S. Vasudevan, and the IAF crew died in a helicopter crash in Sikkim in May 1993. 58 years ago, 6 military leaders killed in Alouette chopper crash Almost 58 years ago, in a similar high-profile case, on November 22, 1963, six prominent military leaders were killed in an Indian Air Force Alouette chopper crash near Poonch. Lieutenant General Daulat Singh, Lieutenant General Bikram Singh, Air Vice Marshal EW Pinto, Major General KND Nanavati, Brigadier SR Oberoi, and Flight Lieutenant SS Sodhi were among the officers who were killed in the air crash. The Devon Disaster The crash of the CDS chopper also serves as a reminder of the February 1952 Devon disaster, which nearly killed the entire Indian Army's high command, including two future chiefs. Lieutenant General SM Shrinagesh and Major General KS Thimayya survived the crash and later went on to become army chiefs. Miraculously, no one died in the crash. The pilot, Lieutenant Suhas Biswas, was granted the country's highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashoka Chakra, for his heroics and exceptional presence of mind, which saved the lives of everyone on board. It was the first Ashoka Chakra awarded by the Indian Air Force. Biswas died a few years later in a Dakota crash in the Nilgiri hills. Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, the former Northern Army commander, and eight others were injured in a Dhruv advanced light helicopter crash in the Poonch area in October 2019. Shripad Naik, the then-Minister of State for Defence, had previously stated in July 2019 that there had been more than 10 accidents every alternate year in the five years from 2014-15 and 2018-19, with a total of 46 soldiers who died in defence air crashes between 2014-15 and July 2019. Here is a list of India's deadly military aviation crashes from 2015 to 2021: • December 2015 - A paramilitary jet carrying 10 Border Security Force (BSF) members crashed near the Delhi airport, killing all 10. • October 2017 - An Indian Air Force chopper crashed during a training sortie near Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, killing at least seven persons. • February 2019 - During a rehearsal for the Aero India performance, two aircraft of the Indian Air Force's aerobatic team Surya Kiran collided in mid-air, killing one pilot and injuring two others who evacuated to safety. • January 5, 2021 - MiG 21 Bison plane crashed during landing in Suratgarh, Rajasthan. • March 17, 2021 - IAF group captain was killed in a mishap involving a MiG-21 Bison aircraft in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. • May 20, 2021 - IAF pilot was killed in a MiG-21 plane crash in Punjab's Moga district. • August 25, 2021 - Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter plane crashed during a training operation in Rajasthan's Barmer. • October 21, 2021 - Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 aircraft on a training mission crashed in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district. Image: PTI

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India's major military aviation disasters & all you need to know about them

There have been numerous instances in the past where military aircraft have crashed due to an ageing fleet or technical issues. Here is the list.

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