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The collision of two Mi-24 military helicopters in the Primorye region was the result of “carelessness, bravado and air hooliganism”, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov said in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on Tuesday. He stressed that the catastrophe was due to the dangerous proximity of the two machines. “While landing, the senior pilot of the rear helicopter flew too close to the craft flying in front of it, and the rotor blades of the rear helicopter hit the beam and tail rotor of the other machine,” he said.
The Defense Minister said he had informed President Vladimir Putin of the incident. According to Rossiya (Russia) television, Mr. Ivanov noted that the simultaneous landing of two aircraft had not been planned, but an officer in charge of the flights had permitted it. The Defense Minister added that that person had already been dismissed, and a criminal case had been opened against him.
Mr. Ivanov said six servicemen had died as a result of the collision at the Chernigovka airfield, and one was injured.
Earlier, there were suggestions that a bird flew into the rear helicopter's engine before the collision.
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RUSSIA IN FACTS
