A video has emerged of a helicopter disappearing into dense fog, amid claims that it portrays the last moments of the Mi-17V5 that crashed in the Nilgiris on Wednesday, killing General Bipin Rawat and 12 others.

News agency ANI tweeted the video saying it had been sourced from “locals present near the accident spot”.

The Indian Air Force has so far not commented on the authenticity of the video, which also shows a group of people, apparently tourists, looking up at the sky after hearing the chopper. Nor has it commented on the cause of the crash, with sources suggesting fog or a mechanic snag as the likeliest reason.

Gen. Rawat, former army chief and India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, and his wife died in the crash along with seven army personnel and four IAF crew members. Only one person, Group Captain Varun Singh — a crew member — survived and is on life support.

Brigadier (retd) Neil John, a military analyst based in Wellington where the helicopter was headed, wrote in a message on Thursday that the weather at Wellington was “clear”.

“The helicopter has to gain immediate altitude and fly through a deep ravine to clear the crest to land at the helipad at the Wellington Golf Club, Coonoor,” he wrote.

“While the crest was being approached, there seems to have been fog which in this place is normal in this season. The fog rolls down the hills, that is, from the top (it) moves down. No one knows why the helicopter crashed.”

Sources said that considering the heavy fog over Coonoor on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu police had kept a convoy of cars ready for Gen. Rawat and his team to travel by road from the Sulur airbase to Wellington, where Rawat was to visit the Defence Services Staff College. They said this was what VVIPs normally did when the weather was bad.

Another screenshot The Telegraph

Defence ministry sources said the helicopter may have been flying low because it was nearing the helipad. The crash site was 10-15km from the helipad.

Eyewitnesses too have said the chopper seemed to be flying dangerously low and appeared to hit a tree before going up in flames.

The black box or the flight data recorder of the chopper was recovered on Thursday morning from the wreckage near Coonoor.

“It has been transported in an army vehicle to Wellington from where it will be sent to Delhi or Bangalore for analysis. It will shed light on the exact cause of the crash,” an army official said.

‘Lost contact’
Defence minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament the helicopter had lost contact with air traffic control about seven minutes before the expected landing time.
“The air force Mi-17V5 helicopter took off from Sulur airbase at 11.48am yesterday and was expected to land at Wellington by 12.15pm. Air traffic control at Sulur airbase lost contact with the helicopter at approximately 12.08pm,” Rajnath said.

“Subsequently, a few locals spotted a fire in the forest near Coonoor and rushed to the spot where they observed the wreckage of the military helicopter engulfed in flames. Rescue teams from the local administration in the vicinity reached the site and attempted to recover the survivors from the crash site.”

Rajnath said a tri-service inquiry into the crash had been ordered. It will be headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Training Command.

A defence ministry official said: “Three of the 14 onboard were initially rescued, including Gen. Rawat who was seriously injured but still breathing. He later died of
his injuries along with two others.”

The IAF aircraft bringing the bodies from Sulur landed at Palam airbase, Delhi, in the evening. A shradhanjali ceremony was held. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country’s top military brass paid homage to the dead.

Defence ministry sources said “positive identification” of only three of the charred bodies (of Gen. Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and Brig. L.S. Lidder) had been possible till now and their mortal remains would be handed over to their families.

The rest of the bodies will be kept at the mortuary of the Army Base Hospital in Delhi till their positive identification is complete.

Appropriate military funerals for all the dead are being planned and coordinated in close consultation with close family members, officials said.

“The chief of defence staff will be cremated with full military honours,” Rajnath told Parliament. Rajnath identified all the 13 dead: Gen. Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, his defence adviser Brig. Lakhbinder Singh Lidder, staff officer Lt Col Harjinder Singh, Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, Lance Naik Jitender Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, Lance Naik B. Sai Teja and crew members Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das and Junior Warrant Officer Arakkal Pradeep.

Additional reporting by M.R. Venkatesh from Chennai