The 2007 Shatoy Mi-8 crash occurred on April 27, 2007, when a

Russian military The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. It is now produced by Russia. In addition t ...

helicopter carrying

special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

troops and

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

crashed in mountainous terrain in southern

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

, killing all 20 people on board. The incident is the largest officially acknowledged loss of life for federal troops in Chechnya in 2007 and the worst Russian military aircraft disaster since August 2002, when an enormous

Mil Mi-26 The Mil Mi-26 (russian: link=no, Миль Ми-26, NATO reporting name: Halo) is a Soviet/Russian heavy transport helicopter. Its product code is ''Izdeliye 90''. Operated by both military and civilian operators, it is the largest and most po ...

transport helicopter packed with troops crashed into a minefield after being hit by a missile, killing 127 soldiers.

Crash

The crashed helicopter was one of three Mi-8 transports and two

Mil Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been ...

attack helicopter An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their heavy armament they ...

s of the

Russian Air Force " Air March" , mascot = , anniversaries = 12 August , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , decorations = , bat ...

which lifted off from a

helipad A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard s ...

to the east of the city of

Gudermes Gudermes (russian: Гудерме́с; ce, Гуьмсе, ''Gümse'' or , ''Guthermajas'') is a town in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Sunzha River east of Grozny, the republic's capital. Population: 32,000 (1970). History Gude ...

. It was carrying 15

GRU The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...

Spetsnaz Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .) Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the So ...

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...

Brigade

recon Recon may refer to: * Reconnaissance, a military term for gathering information * '' Halo 3: Recon'', a standalone expansion for the video game ''Halo 3'' * "Recon" (''Lost''), the eighth episode of the sixth season of ''Lost'' * ''Recon'' (ro ...

commandos and two high-ranking Russian military officers from the main Russian military base at

Khankala Khankala (russian: Ханкала, ce, Хан-ГӀала, translit=Ẋan-Ġala) is a settlement in Groznensky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located to the east of Grozny Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьл� ...

in Chechnya. Russian officials initially claimed the helicopter was downed by

small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

fire from Chechen separatists. Chechen authorities cited mechanical fault as a cause of the crash.3 gunmen killed in operation after helicopter crash in Chechnya
/ref> A special commission tasked with investigating the crash eventually determined that the most likely cause was

human error Human error refers to something having been done that was " not intended by the actor; not desired by a set of rules or an external observer; or that led the task or system outside its acceptable limits".Senders, J.W. and Moray, N.P. (1991) Human ...

Background

The two officers on board as passengers—a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major—were to serve as

liaison officer A Liaison officer is a person who liaises between two or more organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities on a matter of mutual concern. Generally, liaison officers are used for achieving the best utilization of resources, or empl ...

s to ethnic Chechen troops who had, according to federal sources, spotted a group of up to 15 Chechen separatists near the southern village of

Shatoy Shatoy (russian: Шато́й; ce, Шуьйта, translit=Şüyta), is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Shatoysky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia. Population: Geography It is located in the southern part ...

. These allied Chechens had reportedly asked for federal assistance and

air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement ...

. According to the separatist account, the pro-Russian troops were ambushed by separatist fighters who inflicted heavy losses on them. On April 28, 2007, Russian officials asserted that at least three rebels were killed during a ground operation near the crash site, while Russian media reported five soldiers, including two

Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел (МВД), ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia. The MVD is responsible for law enfor ...

(MVD) servicemen, died in the fighting. At the same the separatists, reportedly led by

Dokka Umarov Doku Khamatovich Umarov ( ce, Ӏумар Хьамади кӀант Докка, translit='Umar Ẋamadi khant Dokka, ; russian: Доку Хаматович Умаров, Doku Khamatovich Umarov; 13 April 1964 – 7 September 2013), also known as ...

and

Ramzan Saluyev Ramzan may refer to: * Ramadan, also written as "Ramzan" because of the Persian transliteration "Ramzān". Given name * Ramzan Asayev (born 1993), Russian footballer * Ramzan Kadyrov (born 1976), President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel ...

, claimed to have killed 30-50 soldiers on the ground and 20-30 airborne soldiers, compared to their own claimed losses of two fighters killedŞatoy operasyonda yeni gelişmeler...
/ref> and several wounded.

References

External links

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...

, April 27, 2007
Russian helicopter is 'shot down'

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, 27 April 2007
Chechen rebels 'down helicopter'

Al-Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

, April 27, 2007
Helicopter shot down in Chechnya kills 18

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

, April 27, 2007
Chopper Goes Down in Southern Chechnya

The Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which ...

, May 3, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shatoy Mi-8 Crash 2007 disasters in Russia Aviation accidents and incidents in 2007 Helicopter crashes of the Second Chechen War Accidents and incidents involving the Mil Mi-8 April 2007 events in Russia 2007 in Chechnya