IAF Helicopter Crash: Sole Survior Group Captain Varun Shifted To Bengaluru

The fighter pilot may be moved to the IAF Command Hospital at Bengaluru later on Thursday, officials said.

Conoor: Group Captain Varun Singh, the sole survivor of the Mi-17 chopper crash in Coonoor on Wednesday in which 13 people including chief of defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat died. Captian was maintaining vital signs at the Military Hospital in Wellington is now shifted to IAF Command Hospital in Bengaluru

Group Captain Varun Singh, the only survivor of the helicopter crash in which Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others were killed, is “critical, but stable”. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told parliament that he is on life support and “all efforts are being made to save him”.

“He is being shifted to Bengaluru. I have reached Wellington,” his father Col Singh was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

“He is critical but stable at the moment,” said officials.

The Air Force officer won the Shaurya Chakra in August for his courage in handling his aircraft after it was hit by major technical issues during a sortie last year. He managed to land his Tejas fighter safely.

Group Captain Singh had gone to Sulur to receive General Rawat and escort him to the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. General Rawat was to address the faculty and students at the institute, where Group Captain Singh was Directing Staff.