BENGALURU: Military aviation experts have backed the selection of Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Training Command, Bengaluru, as head of the tri-services inquiry into the fatal Mi17V5 helicopter crash that killed former Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others near Conoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
“He (Singh) is a helicopter pilot and is the right choice to probe the unfortunate Mi17V5 helicopter crash,” said Air Marshal Philip Rajkumar (Retd), who had headed the Court of Inquiry into the Boeing 737-248 crash in Patna in 2000 that had claimed 60 lives. Air Marshal Rajkumar said the Court of Inquiry into fatal air crashes looks into sabotage, security, technical issues, weather, pilot error, crew competence and autopsy reports among others.
“Every aspect is looked into. The investigation can also necessitate taking the parts of the crashed helicopter to the manufacturer. The Court of Inquiry can send the recovered parts of the helicopter to any defence establishment -- Hindustan Aeronautic Ltd (HAL), Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), or any agency overseas for forensic investigation. They have recovered the flight data recorder and voice data recorder, which will be very useful for investigation. They can reconstruct the flight path of the helicopter using data recorder and simulate the profile,” said the veteran IAF officer.
The Mi-17 is a Soviet designed Russian military helicopter family in production at two factories in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. Giving details about the Boeing 737 crash, the retired officer said he had taken some of the parts of crashed aircraft to the Boeing factory in Seattle, USA. “We then went to the Boeing manufacturer in Irvine, California, and Parker-Hannifin Corporation which makes hydraulic actuators, which are used in flight control systems. ” said Rajkumar.