2007 Shatoy Mi-8 crash
| Industry | Military aviation |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Russia |
| Products | Military aircraft operations |
Template:Multiple issues
Template:Infobox Airliner accident
Template:Campaignbox Second Chechen War (guerilla phase)
The 2007 Shatoy Mi-8 crash took place on April 27, 2007, when a Russian Armed Forces Mil Mi-8 helicopter transporting special forces personnel and military officers went down in the mountainous region of southern Chechnya, resulting in the deaths of all 20 individuals aboard.
This tragedy represents the deadliest confirmed casualty event for federal forces in Chechnya during 2007 and marks the most severe Russian military aviation catastrophe since August 2002. That previous incident involved a large Mil Mi-26 transport helicopter carrying troops that crashed after striking a minefield following a missile hit, causing the loss of 127 soldiers.
Crash
The helicopter involved was part of a formation consisting of three Mi-8 transport helicopters and two Mil Mi-24 attack helicopters operated by the Russian Air Force. They departed from a helipad located east of the city of Gudermes. Onboard were 15 GRU Spetsnaz commandos from the Rostov Oblast Brigade specializing in reconnaissance, as well as two senior Russian military officers from the principal Russian military installation at Khankala in Chechnya.
Initial statements from Russian authorities suggested that the helicopter had been shot down by small arms fire from Chechen separatist forces. In contrast, Chechen officials attributed the crash to mechanical failure.Template:Fix/category[citation needed] After an investigation by a dedicated commission, human error was identified as the most probable cause of the accident.
Background
Among the passengers were two officers—a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major—who were assigned as liaison officers to ethnic Chechen units. According to federal reports, these allied Chechen troops had located a group of up to fifteen separatist fighters near the southern village of Shatoy. These pro-Russian forces reportedly requested federal assistance including aerial support. Conversely, separatist sources claimed that their fighters ambushed these pro-government troops inflicting substantial casualties.
On April 28, 2007, Russian officials reported that at least three insurgents were killed during ground operations conducted near the crash location,Template:Fix/category[citation needed] while Russian news outlets stated that five soldiers died during combat, including two personnel from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). Meanwhile, separatist leaders allegedly led by Dokka Umarov and Ramzan Saluyev asserted they had inflicted losses of between thirty and fifty soldiers on the ground and twenty to thirty airborne troops, while sustaining only two fatalities and several wounded among their own ranks.[1]
References
- ↑ (in Turkish) Şatoy operasyonda yeni gelişmeler... Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Military Helicopter Shot Down: '17 Fatalities', Sky News, April 27, 2007
- Russian Helicopter Reportedly Downed, BBC News, 27 April 2007
- Chechen Insurgents 'Shoot Down Helicopter', Al-Jazeera, April 27, 2007
- Helicopter Destroyed in Chechnya Results in 18 Deaths, Reuters, April 27, 2007
- Helicopter Crashes in Southern Chechnya, The Jamestown Foundation, May 3, 2007
Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2007 Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia in the 2000s
Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Articles with Turkish-language sources (tr)
- Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia in 2007
- Helicopter crashes of the Second Chechen War
- Accidents and incidents involving the Mil Mi-8
- April 2007 events in Russia
- 2007 events in Chechnya
- Accidents and incidents involving military helicopters
- Accidents and incidents involving Russian Air Force aircraft