An IAF chopper with Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and staff on board crashed in the Coonoor region of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

A total of 14 people were on board the Indian Air Force helicopter, including CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier LS Lidder, Lt Col Harjinder Singh, NK Gursewak Singh, NK Jitendra Kr, Lancenaik Vivek Kumar, Lancenaik B Sai Teja and Hav Satpal. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

The official Twitter handle of the IAF (@IAF_MCC) put out this tweet: 'With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident.'' Pic/Pallav Paliwal

The CDS was going to the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, to give a lecture. Pic/PTI

Bodies recovered from the crash site -- which is between Coimbatore and Sulur -- were taken to Military Hospital, Wellington in Tamil Nadu. Pic/PTI

The chopper, with a total of 14 persons on board, took off from the Sulur air base near Coimbatore and was on its way to Coonoor. When the chopper was a few minutes away from landing, it, as per eyewitnesses, hit a tree, crashed, and caught fire, resulting in several casualties. Pic/PTI

CDS Rawat was commissioned into the Indian Army in December 1978. He previously served as Chief of the Army Staff from January 2017 to December 2019. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paid his condolences and said, 'General Rawat had served the country with exceptional courage and diligence. As the first Chief of Defence Staff, he had prepared plans for jointness of our Armed Forces.' Pic/PTI