India Narrative

  As the black box of the ill-fated Indian Air Force Mi-17V5 helicopter which crashed in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on Wednesday was retrieved, the bodies of 13 people including Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife, and 11 armed personnel who were killed in the accident, have been shifted from Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) in Wellington to the Sulur Air Force station. The bodies will now be flown to the respective native places of the crash victims. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had told Rajya Sabha on Thursday morning that the bodies of General Rawat, his wife and the others who died in the crash would be brought to Delhi by the evening. It was reported that the black box, also known as a flight recorder, was recovered after the investigating authorities expanded their search area at the accident spot from 300 metres to one km. What is a black box? The black box recovered today would contain valuable information regarding the IAF helicopter's final moments. A blac

  An air force helicopter with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 13 others on board crashed today in Tamil Nadu, the Indian Air Force has confirmed.  Five charred bodies have been recovered from the crash site crash while four persons have been taken to hospital with severe burn injuries. Further details are not known so far. General Rawat's wife, his Defence Assistant, security commandos and Indian Air Force personnel were reportedly among the 14 on board. The Indian Air Force confirmed in a tweet that the Chief of Defence Staff was on the flight. He had taken a flight from Delhi to Sulur earlier today and that flight manifest had listed nine people. "An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. An Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident." The crash took place in the Nilgiris shortly after the Mi-series chopper took off from the army base at Sulur in Coimbatore. Al