Unintentional error likely caused the CDS chopper disaster, according to a January investigation.

According to sources, the most likely reason is what is known as Controlled Flight into Terrain (CIFT), which occurs when a pilot unintentionally strikes a surface.

The test into last month's helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu that killed the country's first Chief of Defense Staff, General Bipin Rawat, and 13 others are near being finished and the last report is relied upon to be submitted to the Air Force Chief in January, Defense sources.

There is no authority word from the Air Force on the test's discoveries up to this point. Sources recommended that the probable reason isn't human or specialized blunder yet what is known as Controlled Flight into Terrain (CIFT) when the pilot accidentally hits a surface.

According to sources, CIFT indicates that the helicopter was in good working order and that the pilot was not to blame. Reduced visibility in the Coonoor area, where the crash occurred, due to inclement weather, could be one of the factors, they suggested. One of the leading causes of plane crashes worldwide is CIFT.

Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, the country's top helicopter pilot in the armed forces, leads the tri-services court of investigation. Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari, the Chief of Air Staff, commissioned the Court of Inquiry.

 The findings will be legally verified before being submitted to ensure that all protocols were followed during the investigation.
The helicopter's black box was retrieved shortly after the disaster, and the investigation involved examining the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).

Rawat's wife and a dozen military officers were among the 13 passengers on the Air Force's Mi-17v5 chopper. On December 8, while descending to land in poor weather, the helicopter crashed. General Rawat was on his way to Wellington, where he would attend the Defence Services Staff College.

The helicopter took off from Sulur Air Base at 11.48 a.m. on December 9 and was anticipated to land at Wellington by 12.15 p.m., according to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's statement to Parliament.

At 12:08 p.m., the helicopter's contact with Sulur Air Base's Air Traffic Control was lost. According to Singh, local locals saw a fire in the forest near Coonoor and hurried to the scene, where they saw the wreckage of the helicopter engulfed in flames.