Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 11 armed forces personnel were killed in the Mi-17V5 helicopter crash.
Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the chopper crash near Coonoor, was on Thursday shifted to a military hospital in Bengaluru from Wellington in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
IAF Group Captain Varun Singh has been shifted to Command Hospital in Bengaluru from the Army hospital at Wellington in Tamil Nadu with severe burn injuries on Wednesday following the crash. .
A special aircraft was arranged at Sulur Air Force station to shift Group Captain Varun Singh to Bengaluru’s Air Force Command Hospital.
According to reports, Singh has suffered 80 per cent burns and his condition is critical.
IAF Group Captain’s father Colonel K P Singh (retired) about his son’s condition :
Earlier, talking to news agency, Group Captain’s father Colonel K P Singh (retired), who is a resident of Bhopal, said, “He is being shifted to Bengaluru. I have reached Wellington.”
Asked about his son’s condition, he said, “I can’t say anything about that,I am not sure.”
He recalled that Group Captain Varun Singh had earlier survived a life-threatening emergency while flying a Tejas aircraft during a test sortie last year. For his bravery, he was awarded the Shaurya Chakra this year.
Singh’s parents, Col. KP Singh and Uma Singh, were in Mumbai at the home of their younger son Tanuj, a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy, when they received news of the crash on Wednesday.
Lt Colonel Ishan R (retired), who lives next door to Col. KP Singh’s residence at Sun City on the Airport Road in Bhopal, said he was hopeful the injured officer would recover as he is a “fighter”.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday morning, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “Group Captain Varun Singh is on life support in the Military Hospital at Wellington and all efforts are being made to save his life.”