NEW DELHI: Bad weather leading to a phenomenon called Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) is believed to have been identified as the prime cause of the helicopter crash in Coonoor in which CDS General Bipin Rawat and 13 others died.
Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari on Wednesday briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the findings of the investigation carried out by the tri-services Court of Inquiry into the December 8 crash.
“The air chief along with Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, who is leading the investigation, gave a detailed presentation to the minister,” confirmed a source.
As reported by this newspaper on January 1, the report is ready and sent for legal vetting and may take 10-15 days to get finalised.
There has been no official word regarding the reasons of the mishap, but the CoI has reportedly ruled out technical snag or sabotage from the list of possibilities leading to the crash of the MI-17 V5 helicopter.
The CFIT is explained to be a phenomenon when an aircraft under control is piloted into the ground, water or other terrain largely due to bad weather or pilot error. It generally takes place in bad weather conditions or when a flight is landing.
According to the IATA (International Air Transport Association), CFIT refers to accidents in which there was a collision with terrain, water, or obstacle, without indication of loss of control of the aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration of the US government described CFIT as an unintentional collision with terrain (the ground, a body of water, or an obstacle) while an aircraft is under positive control.