T.N. Police seek satellite images of weather conditions over Coonoor on fateful day of chopper crash
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had no role in the helicopter flight plan prepared for the late Chief of the Defence Services General Bipin Rawat from the Sulur Air Base in Coimbatore to the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, in the Nilgiris.
Highly placed sources in the Tamil Nadu Police said that neither was the IMD’s forecast called for, nor did the Department issue any weather report in connection with the short chopper flight with Gen. Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier L.S. Lidder and 11 other defence officials.
“The Indian Air Force has its own meteorological system with well-trained experts for weather study and forecasts. The IMD doesn’t send any reports to the Sulur Air Base unless called for…in this case [relating to the crash of the Mi-17V5 helicopter on December 8, 2021] also there was no specific report sent or called for,” a senior official who is part of the investigation told The Hindu.
Satellite images
The State police have requested the IMD to share satellite images showcasing the weather conditions in Coonoor on December 8, 2021.
“Weather reports for aviation purposes was made available at the Coimbatore airport. But that does not serve the purpose since the helicopter trip to Wellington, though a short one, goes into hilly terrain, where weather conditions change often,” the official said.
The Upper Coonoor Police, who have registered a case under Section 174 (unnatural death) of the Criminal Procedure Code, have examined a few witnesses to the tragic crash, who either saw the helicopter moments before the crash or were part of the rescue operations at Kattery, police sources said.
Investigators have also written to the Indian Air Force, Sulur Base, and Defence Services Staff College authorities in Wellington, seekingt the weather report given to the pilot of the VIP helicopter and certain information relevant to the ongoing probe, a police official said.
When asked for his views, Director General of Meteorology, IMD, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, refused to comment on the issue. However, sources in the IMD confirmed to The Hindu that the Department had received a formal request from the State police for satellite images and other weather details pertaining to the helicopter crash.
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