Mi-17 Crash
All 12 on Board Killed in Pakistan Army Mi-17 Crash
Posted on 6 August, 2015
Pakistan Army Mi-17-1V 58626 on the ramp at Qasim Army Aviation Base, Rawalpindi, on November 17, 2009. A Pakistan Army Mi-17 operating from Qasim crashed this evening, killing all 12 on board. AFD-Alan Warnes
A PAKISTAN Army Aviation Corps Mi-17 crashed this evening, August 6, in the Rani Bat area of Koh-e-Bhaingra hill, 40 miles (65km) northwest of the town of Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwestern Pakistan, killing all 12 Army personnel on board. The helicopter was operating an air ambulance flight and carrying an Army medical team, including doctors and paramedics, in addition to the crew.
The crash may have been caused by bad weather as it flew over mountains while en route to Gilgit from Rawalpindi to pick up a critically ill soldier. The helicopter, which was also carrying flood relief supplies and medicines, caught fire after the crash and continued to burn late into the evening. The crash site is in an hilly area that is not easily accessible.
Only a few hours earlier, a Pakistan Air Force Mi-17 was also involved in an accident when it came down in the flood-hit Chitral district, although no serious injuries were reported. The helicopter is reported to have hit a tree during take-off in the Mastuj area while taking part in flood relief operations, but was believed not to have been seriously damaged and made an emergency landing. It had been rescuing 13 people and also evacuating a dead body. AFD-Dave Allport