The Center has ordered a tri-services inquiry into the Mi 17 V5 crash on Wednesday that killed Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 more on board. Officials said that every aspect related to the flight would be deeply investigated.
The senior-most helicopter pilot of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, who is the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command, will lead the probe, the defence minister said in the Parliament.
Air Marshal Manvendra Singh has previous records of serving as the Director-General of Inspection and Flight Safety and he is uniquely qualified for the probe.
A video of the last moments of the Mi 17 V5 which went viral on social media showed that the chopper crashed into thick trees amid dense fog. There is no preliminary information about a technical glitch. The helicopter may have missed a waypoint towards its destination at the gymkhana helipad.
