Coonoor crash witnesses will be questioned, probe will take few more weeks: IAF Chief

The tri-services team investigating the December 8 Coonoor chopper crash in which 14 people including Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat were killed will take "a few more weeks" to collect all the evidence and question all the witnesses, Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari said on Saturday.

Dundigal (Telangana): The tri-services team investigating the December 8 Coonoor chopper crash in which 14 people including Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat were killed will take "a few more weeks" to collect the evidence and question all the witnesses, Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari said on Saturday.

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Combined Graduation Parade at the Air force Academy at Dundigal.

Chaudhari said the investigation will take a "few more weeks" and he would not like to preempt any of the findings, because "it’s a thorough process".

"We will question every witness. It can take weeks. Air Marshal Manavendra Singh has the mandate to investigate every single angle and look into every single aspect of what could have gone wrong,” he said.

"I would not make any announcement in haste. Let me assure you that it is a very, very fair process, the entire court of inquiry," Chaudhari said.

Expressing grief over the demise of General Rawat, his wife, and other officials, the Air Chief Marshal said the parade chose to cut down many events as a mark of respect to him.

On December 8, an Mi-17V-5 transport helicopter operated by the Indian Air Force crashed between Coimbatore and Wellington in 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.

Thirteen people on board were killed in the immediate aftermath, and Group Captain Varun Singh died from his injuries at hospital seven days later.