Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the IAF's Mi-17V5 helicopter crash in which Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others were killed, was airlifted to Bengaluru on Thursday.
A special aircraft was arranged at Sulur Air Force station to shift Group Captain Varun Singh to Bengaluru's Air Force Command Hospital.
According to reports, Singh has suffered 80 per cent burns and his condition is critical.
Earlier, talking to news agency PTI over the phone, Group Captain's father Colonel K P Singh (retired), who is a resident of Bhopal, said, "He is being shifted to Bengaluru. I have reached Wellington."
Asked about his son's condition, he said, "I can't say anything about that...I am not sure."
Lt Colonel Ishan R (retired), who lives next door to Col K P Singh's residence at Sun City on the Airport Road in the Madhya Pradesh capital, said he was hopeful the injured officer will recover.
He said Col K P Singh and his wife Uma were in Mumbai at the place of their younger son Tanuj, who is a Lt Commander in the Navy, when they received information about the unfortunate incident on Wednesday.
"I spoke to Colonel K P Singh this morning. He said his son was a fighter and will come out victorious (from the tragedy)," he said.
He recalled that Group Captain Varun Singh had earlier survived a life-threatening emergency while flying a Tejas aircraft during a test sortie last year. For his bravery, he was awarded the Shaurya Chakra this year.
Meanwhile, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that all efforts were being made to save Group Captain Varun Singh.
(With PTI inputs)
