Wife in uniform leads farewell for pilot who died in Kedarnath crash

India Today

The last rites of retired Lieutenant Colonel Rajveer Singh Chauhan, who died in the recent Kedarnath helicopter crash, were held on Tuesday in Jaipur.    Leading the funeral procession was his wife, Lieutenant Colonel Deepika, who clutched his portrait close to her heart. Onlookers paid their respects with chants of "Rajveer Singh Amar Rahein" (Long live Rajveer Singh).    Chauhan, 37, was the captain of Bell 407 helicopter that crashed on Sunday morning near Gaurikund in Uttarakhand. Besides him, six people were killed in the accident.

Transcript

00:00I'm talking about the Uttarakhand chopper crash that happened on Sunday.

00:05After the Ahmedabad Air India crash that had happened,

00:09the chopper crash that led to the loss of life of seven people in Uttarakhand,

00:13what a heartbreaking moment.

00:14It was a young captain, Captain Chauhan, an army veteran,

00:19who was flying the chopper.

00:21So clearly an experienced pilot, remember, what went wrong will be investigated.

00:26That's an heartbroken family there.

00:28And what makes it more difficult was that these were young parents as well.

00:35Captain Chauhan and the family were recently blessed with twins.

00:41And it was a moment clearly of happiness, of celebration.

00:49I want to bring in my colleague for the latest on this,

00:53Devankar Vidhavan from Rajasthan.

00:55It's a wave of grief that's engulfed.

00:57Lieutenant Colonel Rajveer Singh Chauhan, who died in this helicopter crash.

01:02Tell us more about the location here.

01:05A couple from the armed forces, a heartbreaking moment,

01:09but eventually the 4G wife also trying to keep her stoic and calm.

01:16And I can only imagine how difficult this must be for the young parents.

01:19Go ahead, Devankar, tell us more about the family, about the captain of the pilot.

01:26Well, Pooja, extremely heartfelt moments being seen in Jaipur.

01:30Not the captain, but in fact, Lieutenant Colonel Rajveer Singh Chauhan,

01:33he retired from army.

01:35And thereafter, he joined this private service.

01:39And he was operating the helicopter in Kedarnath during inclement weather conditions.

01:46And as per information, he had decided to return to the base,

01:50but he could not.

01:51Because of the inclement weather conditions,

01:53prime of SI, the helicopter crashed.

01:55And as many as seven people died in that crash.

01:58Lieutenant Colonel Rajveer Singh Chauhan is survived by his wife,

02:03his twins, who were recently born.

02:06So clearly, extremely heartfelt moments being seen in Jaipur.

02:13This comes in the aftermath of the Ahmedabad aircraft crash.

02:20And this also is so tragic for the family of Rajveer Singh Chauhan.

02:25His wife was seen in army fatigues while the last procession was carried out

02:33in the honor of Lieutenant Colonel Rajveer Singh Chauhan,

02:37who retired from the Indian Air Force and thereafter joined the helicopter service.

02:41So clearly heartfelt, heart-bending moments seen in Jaipur.

02:46Rajveer Singh Chauhan and his wife were recently blessed by twins.

02:50And the entire family is in the midst of the sorrowful moments,

02:55which happened because of the crash that happened,

02:58the unfortunate crash that took place in Kedarnath.

03:02What were the exact reasons behind that Kedarnath helicopter crash are yet unknown.

03:08But the information that has filtered in so far,

03:11Puja clearly conveys that there was inclement weather conditions.

03:15And Rajveer Singh Chauhan had conveyed that he will be returning to the base,

03:20but he could not manage to return safely to the base.

03:24And because of the crash, seven lives were lost.

03:27Puja?

03:28Stay on with me.

03:30Remember that there have been multiple crashes that have happened,

03:34especially with regard to this route.

03:36It needs to be investigated further.

03:38What's happening?

03:39And this time we are looking at a young family.

03:42In fact, from what our research suggests,

03:45Lieutenant Colonel Chauhan, who was the captain of this chopper,

03:49was due to return home because they wanted to celebrate the birth of their twin sons,

03:55who were born recently.

03:57And instead, his mortal remains have returned home.

04:00What a heartbreaking tragedy.

04:02Seven people had lost their life in this chopper crash.

04:06The young wife also from the Indian army and from Rajasthan,

04:12as these visuals continue to come in.

04:13It's a promising life cut short.

04:15It's a family shattered.

04:17And I can only think of the little children as much as the wife as well,

04:20to be not able to know more about the father, the husband,

04:25and the aging father who broke that news to the rest of the family.

04:29And this is why, perhaps, as we mourn the tragedy collectively,

04:36we also need to find out what's happening.

04:39Whether it's the Ahmedabad crash, whether it's the Uttarakhand crash,

04:43that even when there are these experienced pilots,

04:46someone who served in the armed forces for so long

04:48and had recently retired,

04:50had joined the Aryan Aviation Private Limited as a civilian helicopter pilot,

04:56he then also, then this happened.

04:59So, what is it about the chopper, the weather, or the route?

05:03What are you hearing currently about?

05:05Are we expecting possibly leaders,

05:08any representative from the government also to come there?

05:11Have they contacted the family?

05:14Dev?

05:14The current chief minister of Rajasthan has expressed his grief to the family of Rajveer Singh Johan.

05:26In fact, several leaders from both sides of the political spectrum

05:32had expressed their sorrow and their grief at this insurmountable loss

05:37that the family of Rajveer Singh Johan has suffered.

05:41He hails from Dosa, from Basi region of Rajasthan,

05:46but he had been living in Jaipur for quite some time.

05:50But this entire tragedy, clearly, as you pointed out,

05:53raises some pertinent questions,

05:55and most relevant out of them is the safety of the aircrafts in the aviation sector

06:02and whether actually safety protocols are being followed and adhered to or not.

06:07And this is one of them.

06:09The lives of whether it be the pilots or the passengers should not be endangered.

06:14And if there are certain lacunae that need to be filled,

06:18that should be done at the earliest possible.

06:20And this clearly is another tragedy which points out at the fact that

06:24perhaps there are several aspects of the aviation industry

06:30which have been overlooked or neglected

06:32and which clearly needs to be reflected upon.

06:34And perhaps if there has been any neglect or any criminal negligence,

06:40that clearly needs to be pinned down

06:42and those responsible for it should also be punished.

06:45That's very important because this is the Gauri Kuntu Kedarnath pilgrimage

06:49where recently, about a few years ago, this chopper service had started.

06:54It's not an isolated rare case.

06:56There have been emergency landing.

06:58There have been fatal issues as well.

07:01And this time, remember, the sector clearly witnessing the incidence of something that is wrong,

07:08whether it's the weather, whether it's the aircraft in itself or something else.

07:12There has to be an investigation to find out.

07:15We cannot keep losing our pilots in this manner,

07:18especially on a route which is barely about 10 minutes of a ride.

07:22So whether it's wind or any other issue,

07:25I would not want to speculate at this juncture,

07:27but you're looking at a family destroyed, a young, beautiful family

07:30recently celebrating the birth of their children

07:34and he was due to return home to celebrate it.

07:37And then this happens.

07:40Remember the heartbreaking moment, despite the kind of training,

07:44the stoic, the calm that a 4G wife comes with,

07:47herself, of course, serving in the armed forces,

07:49and then to be able to have the mortal remains of your husband.

07:56Our prayers with the family, with the Chauhan family.

08:00Remember, all of us will move on in our life.

08:03It's this family that will have to live with the loss

08:06of Lieutenant Colonel Raji Singh Chauhan.

08:09I hope she finds the strength to be able to make an investigation into what?

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