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| Caucasus |
| Russian officer charged in Chechnya helicopter crash |
| 2003-05-08 |
| Edited for brevity. The office of Russia's military prosecutor has filed criminal charges against an army commander stemming from the crash of a mammoth military helicopter in Chechnya last August and acknowledged that the death toll was higher than previously reported. The helicopter, a transport aircraft that was grossly overloaded with at least 147 passengers, was shot down by Chechen fighters on Aug. 19 and crashed in a minefield as it approached the main Russian military base in Chechnya, just east of Grozny. It was the single worst loss of life in Russia's second war in Chechnya, now in its fourth year. |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #6 The MI-26 is an upgraded MI-6 "HOOK". According to my (old, obsolete) Janes, the HOOK has a maximum passenger limit of 94 people and a crew of five. I don't have the figures on the MI-26, but I don't think they increased the troop capacity by 50 or more! |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-05-08 20:33:36 |
| #5 Yes, I can see how you can pack 147 people into the chopper. Boy, that is a committee of main rotor blades! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-05-08 13:31:48 |
| #4 Jaysus, that's huge! Heavycopter is right! |
| Posted by: Tadderly 2003-05-08 13:12:04 |
| #3 While it may be cramped, the Mi-26 is a monster of a helicopter. It has basically the cargo capacify of a c-130. Here is a page with pictures of one moving a downed chinook after Anaconda last year MI-26 Picture |
| Posted by: patrickpayne 2003-05-08 11:34:19 |
| #2 The pilot dipped heavily into the luck barrel and it was empty that day. I just cannot imagine seeing 147 people in a helicopter! And flying! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-05-08 10:57:53 |
| #1 Overloaded is bad. Shotdown is worse. Shotdown into a minefield? Just wasn't their day. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2003-05-08 10:03:37 |