Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, with his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others killed in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu, was paid tributes at the military hospital in Wellington. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhary also paid tributes to General Rawat at the wreath-laying ceremony.

General Rawat went to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington to address the faculty and students when the crash happened. The helicopter crashed just after it took off from the Air Force base in Sulur at 11:45 am from Coimbatore.

A plane with General Rawat’s body will take off for Delhi from Tamil Nadu. The aircraft will land in Delhi’s Air Force Technical Airport at around 4 pm. At 11 am on Friday, the bodies of General Rawat and his wife Madhulika will be taken to their residence. Then they will be escorted by military bands of all three services and taken to Brar crematorium. The funeral is scheduled for 4 pm on Friday.