As Gen Bipin Rawat dies in chopper crash, Tamil news channels show remarkable restraint

India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, passed away today when the IAF Mi 17 V5 helicopter he was travelling in crashed in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor region at around noon.

Of the 14 passengers on board, 13 were confirmed dead, including the general and his wife Madhulika Rawat.

The crash happened just about 10 km from the helipad where it was scheduled to land. The general had been on his way to an interaction with cadres at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.

The Times of India was one of the first media organisations to report the crash along with the fact that the general had been a passenger on the helicopter. Media houses soon scrambled to gather details of what had happened – and the coverage by the media in Tamil Nadu and others showed remarkable restraint.

Inevitably, however, considering the complete dearth of information over six hours, several channels did resort to some amount of speculation so as to have something to talk about. Discussions predominantly revolved around the weather in the area, the chopper, and the trickle of reactions from politicians.

News7 Tamil noted it had been raining in the area for over a week now. Its coverage involved speaking to eye-witnesses and police officials while explaining the area’s topography. The channel also attempted to the map the helicopter’s route.

Thanthi News strayed into slightly speculative territory by saying the chopper might have hit a tree, without explaining where this detail was from. It should be noted, however, that this was later corroborated by an eye-witness who told the News Minute the helicopter “hit one tree” and that the resultant fire from the crash was “higher” than his house.

Sun News passed the time between the crash and the confirmation of the general’s death by describing the heavy fog enveloping the Nilgiris. “As per the preliminary investigation, the accident could have happened due to the foggy weather in Nilgiris,” the anchor said, though they did not provide a source.

Polymer News, despite being known for some amount of sensationalism, kept it muted this time around. The channel focused on the security being provided at the general’s home in Delhi. Senior politicians including defence minister Rajnath Singh had visited the Rawat home before briefing prime minister Narendra Modi on what had happened.

Telugu news channels also followed the example set by their Tamil counterparts, offering informative reportage without sensationalism. NTV interviewed experts in the field to detail the structure of the Mi 17 V5 chopper. Noting that the Indian army has 151 of these helicopters, the channel said, “These Russian made choppers are double-engined and can accommodate 36 people.”

NTV did stray once, however. The anchor attributed the crash to “poor visibility or a technical glitch or it could have been a conspiracy.”

Given how closed off the rescue operations were, news channels were unable to provide the answers to basic questions over their four hours of coverage. This included a complete lack of information on whether the general had been injured or rescued.

The speculation was finally put to rest with the Indian Air Force's announcement after 6 pm, followed by confirmations by other government arms such as All India Radio.