Sanjay Gandhi, Madhavrao Scindia, YSR Reddy and other VIPs who died in air crashes

NEW DELHI: Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat's death in a helicopter crash is the latest on India's list of fatal air accidents- several of those involved military aircraft, and some claimed the lives of well-known personalities.

We take a look at some such major air crashes from the past:

May 21, 2021

Indian Air Force pilot Abhinav Chaudhary died after his MiG-21 fighter jet crashed into an open field in Langeana village in Punjab’s Moga district.

February 27, 2019

An Indian Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopter, which took off from Srinagar on a routine mission, crashed around near Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam. All six air on board sustained fatal injuries.

April 3, 2018

An Indian Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopter crashed near Kedarnath while flying on a state government mission. The accident happened during landing near the helipad. All four aircrew and two ground crew members, who were onboard survived.

October 2014

A Cheetah helicopter belonging to an Army aviation unit in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh crashed shortly after it took off , killing all three officers on board.

July 2014

Seven IAF personnel, including two officers, were killed when an ALH Dhruv helicopter, in which they were flying from Bareilly to Allahabad crashed in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh.

May 9, 2012

A helicopter carrying the then-chief minister of Jharkhand, Arjun Munda, his wife and three others crash-landed at Ranshi's Birsa Munda airport. All on board sustained injuries. Munda fractured an arm and sustained injuries on his leg.

April 30, 2011

Then-Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu was killed when a helicopter carrying him and four others from Tawang to Itanagar crashed in a forest area. The helicopter lost contact with ground control approximately 20 minutes after it took off. Khandu’s body was recovered near Sela Pass, close to border with China.

September 3, 2009

YS Rajasekhara Reddy, the then-Andhra Pradesh chief minister, died when his Bell 430 helicopter crashed in a dense forest while flying to a village in Chitoor district.

March 31, 2005

Haryana ministers OP Jindal, also a noted industrialist, and Surendra Singh were killed when the chopper carrying them went down near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

September 2004

C Sangma, the then Meghalaya community development minister, three legislators and six others were killed in a helicopter crash.

March 3, 2002

Then-Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam leader G M C Balayogi died in a chopper crash in Andhra Pradesh.

September 30, 2001

Madhavrao Scindia, a royal scion from Madhya Pradesh and a former Congress cabinet minister, was killed in a plane crash when he was travelling to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh to address a Congress rally.

May 2001

Dera Natung, the then Arunachal Pradesh education minister, and five others were killed when their Pawan Hans helicopter crashed near Tawang due to poor visibility.

July 9, 1994

The then-Punjab governor Surendra Nath, and 12 others, including nine of his family, were killed when a state government plane crashed in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh, minutes after taking off.

June 23, 1980

Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, died when the glider he was flying on, crashed soon after taking off from Safdarjung airport in Delhi.

May 30, 1973

Minister of steel in the Indira Gandhi government, Mohan Kumaramangalam, was killed in a plane crash in New Delhi at the age of 56.

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