Sole survivor Group Captain Varun Singh suffered 45% burn injuries, vitals stable

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Dec 09, 2021: Group Captain Varun Singh, the sole survivor of the IAF chopper crash on Wednesday, has suffered 45 per cent burn injuries and is under treatment, as per sources. His condition is critical but his vitals are stable, they said.

 

A call to shift him from the Military Hospital in Wellington to the Air Force Command Hospital in Bengaluru is being assessed.

Speaking in Parliament, 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."

In a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor on Wednesday, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others -- including his wife Madhulika and 11 armed forces personnel -- lost their lives. There were fourteen people on board. Group Captain Varun Singh was the only one who survived.

SHAURYA CHAKRA AWARDEE

On August 15 this year, then Wing Commander Varun Singh, a pilot in a Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Squadron, was conferred with the Shaurya Chakra, India’s third highest peacetime gallantry award, for his act of exceptional gallantry.

According to a statement issued by the Defence Ministry, Wing Commander Varun Singh, was on October 12, 2020, flying a system check sortie in LCA, away from the parent base, after major rectification of the Flight Control System (FCS) and pressurisation system (life support environment control system). 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," the Defence Ministry statement had said.

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, Wing Commander Varun Singh maintained exemplary composure and regained control of the aircraft, thereby exhibiting exceptional flying skill.

Soon thereafter, at about 10,000 feet, the aircraft again experienced total loss of control with vicious manoeuvring and uncontrollable pitching. Under such a scenario, the pilot was at liberty to abandon the aircraft. Faced with a potential hazard to his own life, he displayed extraordinary courage and skill to safely land the fighter aircraft, the statement noted.

The pilot went beyond the call of duty and landed the aircraft taking calculated risks. This allowed an accurate analysis of the fault on the indigenously designed fighter and further institution of preventive measures against recurrence.

"Due to his high order of professionalism, composure and quick decision making, even at the peril of his life, he not only averted the loss of an LCA, but also safeguarded civilian property and population on the ground," the statement further said.

Courtesy:India Today