General Rawat killed in chopper crash: Prominent Indians who died in air crashes

New Delhi, Dec 08: Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 11 other people on board an Indian Air Force helicopter died in a crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

Rawat who took over as India's first CDS on December 31 2019 had once survived a chopper crash. It was on February 3 2015, Rawat survived a Cheetah crash in Dimapur, Nagaland. He was a Lieutenant General at that time.

The coonoor army chopper crash adds one more grim chapter in the book of similar accidents of prominent political personalities. Young and old alike, several leaders have been killed in private aircraft , most at the peak of their careers.

Sanjay Gandhi

Sanjay Gandhi, the 33-year-old heir-apparent to India's Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, died in 1980 when a small plane in which he was flying crashed shortly after takeoff. He was seen as a successor to then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Madhavrao Scindia

In 2001, Madhavrao Scindia, popularly referred to as the Maharaja of Gwalior, died in a tragic plane crash, while travelling to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh to address a public rally. He was 56.

G M C Balayogi

Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam leader G M C Balayogi died in a chopper crash on March 3, 2002 in Andhra Pradesh. Balayogi was in a Bell 206 helicopter. An official probe ruled that the crash was caused when the pilot, unable to continue due to poor visibility, mistakenly landed on a pond thinking it was a land surface.

YS Rajasekhara Reddy

The two-time chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others were killed when their helicopter crashed on a hillock, about 49 nautical miles east of Kurnool in in September 2009. Preliminary reports said that the helicopter was not "air-worthy" and accused the pilot of poor judgments.

Actress Soundarya

In 2004, popular South Indian actress Soundarya and her brother were among four people charred to death when the single-engine Cessna-180 aircraft carrying them for BJP campaign in Andhra Pradesh crashed and exploded in flames within three minutes after taking off from the city outskirts.

The 32-year-old actress, was in the peak of her career, who had made it big in the south Indian celluloid world, especially in Telugu and Tamil films, pairing with superstars Rajnikanth and Chiranjeevi.