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Russia Grounds Mi-8 Helicopters After 2 Crashes
| Andrei? Have you lost another helicopter? |
Three pilots suffered injuries as a Mi-8 military helicopter crash landed on a military airfield near Khabarovsk in Russiaâs Far East on Thursday morning. Four hours later, four crew members of another Mi-8 were killed after the aircraft plunged to the ground near Nefteryugansk, Siberia. Three pilots suffered injuries as a Mi-8 military helicopter crash landed on a military airfield 40 kilometers from Khabarovsk in Russiaâs Far East on Thursday morning. Russian air force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky told Interfax news agency that the reduction gear of the helicopterâs tail propeller broke down at an altitude of 1,200 meters. Crew commander Andrei Ivanenko ordered the eight parachutists aboard the helicopter to jump, and continued to keep the helicopter at a safe altitude, steering it away from buildings. The three crewmembers suffered injuries in the crash landing and were hospitalized. | Nice job, Andrei. Well done. |
The crashed helicopter belonged to the 11th Air and Air Defense Army, the armyâs spokesman Sergei Roshcha told Interfax. A commission led by acting Army Commander Alexander Kalyaka is working at the scene of the crash. Russian air force commander Vladimir Mikhailov has suspended Mi-8 flights until the cause of the crash is established. Four hours later, another helicopter â Mi-8 of the Argo airline company â carrying 4 people crashed near Nefteyugansk, killing everyone on board. The helicopter was performing an inspection flight over a pipeline. The probe into the incident was launched, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.
Posted by: Steve 2005-08-18 |
