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| Afghanistan | |
| Afghan helicopter crash kills 16 | |
| 2009-07-19 | |
| A civilian helicopter has crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 16 people, a military official has told the BBC. The helicopter crashed at the Kandahar airfield, Nato's largest base in southern Afghanistan, apparently as it was trying to take off. Reports from Moscow say the helicopter was a Russian-built Mi-8. This isn't looking good for the Brits. I think they contract Mi-8s to move their personnel around.
The crash is the second in a week. Six passengers died when a helicopter came down in Helmand province on Tuesday. Russia's Interfax agency quoted a spokesman for Russia's Federal Air Transportation Agency (Fata) as saying the aircraft was a Russian-built Mi-8 transport helicopter. Fata said it was owned by the Russian air company Vertikal-T. The nationalities of the dead are not yet known. A statement from the International Security Assistance Force said: "A civilian contracted helicopter crashed during take-off from Kandahar airfield. "Emergency personnel are on the scene. There was no indication of the cause of the accident but insurgent action has been ruled out." | |
| Posted by:ed |
| #2 Upade from AP: No military personnel were wounded or killed, NATO said. Parent said the helicopter burst into flames when it crashed near the runway only moments after takeoff. The Russian news agency Interfax said the Mi-8 was owned by the Russian air company Vertikal-T. It cited Russian charge d'affaires Andrei Vadov as saying there were no Russians among the 16 killed. The Mi-8 helicopter can seat up to 24 people, Parent said. Civilian helicopters help ferry civilian contractors and supplies to small military outposts across Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-07-19 12:21 |
| #1 The Hueys do not perform well in the high altitudes and the heat. The best heavy lift out there is the Chinook. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-07-19 11:50 |