Chopper crash: Wing commander Prithvi Chauhan's father recalls his last phone call with son

Firemen undertake rescue operation next to the debris of an IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter crash site in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu on December 8. Pic/AFP

A pall of gloom descended on Agra, the native of Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan (42), who was killed along with several others, including Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, in the chopper crash in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

Soon after the news broke, his relatives and neighbours rushed to console the bereaved family at Saran Nagar in Dayal Bagh here.

Prithvi's family had migrated to Agra from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh in 2006 and his father Surendra Singh (74) set up a bakery here.

Singh told PTI, "We received information about our son's untimely death through news channels. However, we did not receive an official confirmation either from the Air Force officials or the Agra administration on Wednesday."

Singh said his eldest daughter, who stays in Mumbai, followed the news and tried to contact Prithvi over phone. "However, she said his phone was switched off. She then called his wife Kamini Singh, who had accepted the tragic news by then," a teary-eyed Singh said.

He said Prithvi was cooperative and well-mannered.

"He used to talk about our wellbeing. After 31 years, he had celebrated Raksha Bandhan with his three sisters last time. His eldest sister, however, couldn't make it as she lives in Mumbai," Singh recalled.

He was the youngest among the five siblings.

Singh said Prithvi was to arrive home in January.

"I last spoke to him some three-four days ago. His mother has some problems with her vision. So he had fixed an appointment at the military hospital."

According to his parents, Prithvi studied at the Sainik School in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa and got selected at the National Defence Academy. He joined the Indian Air Force in Hyderabad in 2000 and was currently posted at the Indian Airforce station in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

He married Kamini in 2007 and the couple has a daughter Aaradhya (12) and son Aviraj (7).

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