2021 Indian Air Force Mil Mi-17 crash
Mil Mi-17V-5 · Controlled flight into terrain, due to weather-related spatial disorientation
From Coimbatore Air Force Station (VOSX) to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Tamil Nadu, India
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 14 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 14
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Mil Mi-17V-5
- Aircraft type
- Mil MI-17
- Category
- Helicopter · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- ZP 5164
- Operator
- Indian Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 14
- Route
- From Coimbatore Air Force Station (VOSX)To Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Tamil Nadu, India
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Personnel issues › Psychological
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 8 December 2021, a Mil Mi-17V-5 transport helicopter operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed between Coimbatore and Wellington in the state of Tamil Nadu after departing from Sulur Air Force Station. The helicopter was carrying Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 13 others, including his wife and staff. Everyone on board was killed in the immediate aftermath, except Group Captain Varun Singh, who died from his injuries at a hospital a week later.
Accident
The passengers had boarded the flight around 11:45 a.m. local time (IST). At 11:48 a.m. local time, the helicopter took off with ten passengers and four crew members from Sulur Air Force Station, headed roughly 80 km to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington, Tamil Nadu. General Rawat, his wife, and his staff were traveling to the DSSC, where Rawat was to address the college's faculty and student officers. The flight was scheduled to arrive at Wellington by 12:15 p.m. Shortly before losing contact with the Sulur Air force base at 12:08 p.m., the pilots had radioed air traffic control to confirm their imminent landing at the Wellington helipad. The aircraft then crashed near a residential colony of private tea estate employees on the outskirts of the hamlet of Nanjappachatiram, Bandishola panchayat, in the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area of Coonoor taluk, Nilgiris district. The crash site was 10 km from the flight's intended destination.
According to an eyewitness, he saw "the helicopter coming down... it hit one tree and was on fire. There were plumes of smoke" when he ran over. "In minutes, the fire was higher" than his house. Villagers threw water over the fire in an attempt to put it out. Initial reports of the crash emerged around 12:20 p.m., with a search-and-rescue operation launched at 12:25 p.m. The IAF officially confirmed General Rawat's presence on the flight in a tweet sent at 1:53 p.m. Rescue operations continued until 3:25 p.m. Fire and Rescue Services personnel who managed to reach the crash site after some difficulty, as the site was 500 meters from a major road, reported the crash victims had been burnt beyond recognition.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The flight data recorder was recovered on the morning of 9 December. A tri-service court of inquiry was established by the Indian Air Force, headed by Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, the AOC-in-C Training Command. Early in January 2022, anonymous defense officials attached to the team indicated that the inquiry was complete and the probable cause of the accident was Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT), which occurs when the pilot is in full control of the aircraft but due to faulty situational awareness the aircraft strikes the terrain. The chopper was reportedly flying at a low altitude when it entered a rolling cloud cover that drastically reduced visibility. In the process of trying to fly out of the cloud cover, it hit a cliff and crashed.
On 14 January 2022, the court of inquiry's preliminary findings were officially made public. It termed the accident "a result of entry into clouds due to unexpected change in weather conditions", which "led to spatial disorientation of the pilot resulting in Controlled Flight into Terrain". The court ruled out any mechanical failure, sabotage or negligence to be a cause of the accident.
In December 2024, a Standing Committee on defense report tabled in Lok Sabha stated that the Mi-17 crash, which took place on December 8, 2021, occurred because of "Human Error (Aircrew)".
Text from the Wikipedia article “2021 Indian Air Force Mil Mi-17 crash” (revision 1369379815, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2021 Indian Air Force Mil Mi-17 crash
- Revision
- 1369379815 · 2026-08-14 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q109996552
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2021 Indian Air Force Mil Mi-17 crash" (page 69462995, revision 1369379815)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.