At 11:48 a.m. local time, the helicopter took off with 10 passengers and 4 crew members from Sulur Air Force Station, headed roughly 80 km (50 mi) to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington, Tamil Nadu.

[2] The aircraft then crashed near a residential colony of private tea estate employees on the outskirts of the hamlet of Nanjappachatiram, Bandishola panchayat, in the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area of Coonoor taluk, Nilgiris district.

The IAF officially confirmed General Rawat's presence on the flight in a tweet sent at 1:53 p.m.[19] Rescue operations continued until 3:25 p.m.[9] Fire and Rescue Services personnel who managed to reach the crash site after some difficulty, as the site was 500 meters from a major road, reported the crash victims had been burnt beyond recognition.

[20] Following the crash, the IAF released statements at 18:03 confirming the death of 13 of the 14 people on board, including General Rawat and his wife.

[24] An instructor at the DSSC, Group Captain Varun Singh, was the initial survivor of the crash, and was taken to the military hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, for surgery.

[28] The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met on the evening of the disaster to decide on a further course of action.

The chopper was reportedly flying at a low altitude when it entered a rolling cloud cover that drastically reduced visibility.