MARCH 26, 2015
The crash of a military helicopter in central Vietnam on
Thursday morning was due to strong winds, a colonel said, dismissing earlier reports
that it had exploded.
Colonel Tran Van Quang said the helicopter, which was
carrying eight men, was hit by a strong gust when it was about to land on Phu
Quy Island's airport Binh Thuan Province at around 9 a.m.
The helicopter was about ten meters above the ground when
the winds took it down.
The tail struck the ground hard, broken off and thrown 30
meters away from the aircraft, which hit the ground upside down in the military
area of the airport.
Some of the debris hit nearby houses, breaking walls and
doors.
All the crew members were saved. Three of them suffered
minor injuries.
A local official said some of them still managed to crawl
out of the helicopter after it crashed, but then fainted.
No explosion
The official also said there was no explosion before the
crash like previously reported.
He said local fire fighters sprayed water at the helicopter
just to prevent explosion after the incident.
Quang said the aircraft, which was a Soviet-era medium
twin-turbine helicopter Mi-8, was flying from the neighboring Ninh Thuan
Province for a search and rescue mission.
He said air force engineers have checked the aircraft and
said it can be still fixed for future use.
Around 80 Mi-8 helicopters are being used in more than 50
countries worldwide.
Officials said Vietnam is replacing its with Mi-17, a more
modern version.
Three military helicopters have crashed in Vietnam since
last July. Two previous crashes involved a Russian Mi-171 and a US-built UH-1,
and killed 24 military personnel in total.
Source: http://www.thanhniennews.com