BENGALURU: Group Captain Varun Singh died at the IAF Command Hospital in Bengaluru early Wednesday, succumbing to grave wounds and extensive burns he suffered a week ago in the Mi-17V5 helicopter crash near Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor that killed CDS Gen. Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other military personnel.
Flying with Gen. Rawat as his liaison officer for a visit to the Wellington-based Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) on December 8, he was the lone survivor among the 14 on board. He was shifted from Wellington’s Military Hospital to Bengaluru the following day.
An ace test pilot in his 40s, winner of the Shaurya Chakra for gallantry and aspiring astronaut who had applied for India’s Gaganyaan manned space mission, Group Captain Singh is survived by his wife and their son, 11, and daughter, 8.
He was born to a soldier’s family, originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria district, but settled now in Bhopal. Father Col. (retired) KP Singh was with Army Air Defence, while his brother is with the Navy. His mortal remains will be sent to Bhopal for the last rites.
While IAF tweeted his death and condolence to his family on Wednesday, the hospital had maintained his condition was “critical but stable” until Tuesday. Sources said skin grafting from a cadaver was probably planned to treat the officer.
The nation mourned the decorated officer’s death. PM Narendra Modi said Group Captain Varun Singh’s “rich service to the nation will never be forgotten”, while defence minister Rajnath Singh called the officer “a true fighter who fought till his last breath”. In his message, Union home minister Amit Shah expressed his condolences to the family.
Group Captain Singh was among the IAF test pilots to apply for the Gaganyaan programme, but couldn’t make the cut. A senior officer associated with astronaut selection at Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) said: “He cleared some of the initial tests, but was not among the four selected finally.”