Who was Group Captain Varun Singh?

Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the IAF helicopter crash in which Gen Bipin Rawat died, succumbed to injuries at the hospital on Wednesday morning.

Last Wednesday, Group Captain Singh was admitted to a hospital in Wellington with severe burn injuries. The following day, he was transferred to Command Hospital in Bengaluru where he succumbed to injuries a week later. 

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 11 armed forces personnel were killed after the military helicopter they were travelling in crashed in a hilly region near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.

“Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course today. With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident,” the Indian Air Force tweeted on Wednesday evening. 

Also Read: Tamil Nadu helicopter crash: Who all were on the aircraft?

Group Captain Varun Singh was awarded Shaurya Chakra on Independence Day this year for handling his aircraft after it was hit by major technical issues during a sortie in October 2020. He landed his LCA Tejas fighter aircraft safely despite the mid-air emergency.

Also Read: In Pics | The life and times of Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff

“During the sortie, the cockpit pressurisation failed at high altitude. He correctly identified the failure and initiated a descent to lower altitude for landing.  While descending, the Flight Control System failed and led to total loss of control of the aircraft. This was an unprecedented catastrophic failure that had never occurred. There was a rapid loss of altitude while in usual attitude, with the aircraft pitching up and down viciously going to the extremities of G limits. Despite being in extreme physical and mental stress in an extreme life-threatening situation, he maintained exemplary composure and regained control of the aircraft, thereby exhibiting exceptional flying skill,” his citation read.