Chopper with Gen Rawat was 10 km from landing site

New Delhi, Dec 08: An unfortunate incident of a chopper crash was reported from Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu today. Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 12 others were on that chopper.

The crash happened at a distance of around 10 kilometres from the helipad where it was to land. The incident took place at around 12.20 pm today.

Meanwhile, defence Minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement in Parliament tomorrow on the chopper crash that took place in Nilgiris today. Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 12 others were on board the chopper.

Singh also attended a meeting with senior officials of his ministry. Singh, for now will not travel to Tamil Nadu and will continue monitoring the situation from New Delhi itself.

"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," a tweet by the Indian Air Force read.

The chopper was heading to the defence establishment in Wellington and the crash took place in the Nilgiris shortly after the Mi-Series chopper took off from the Army base in Sulur.