September 24, 2002 at 3:28 am
I see from the news that they are still unsure as to what caused the Mi-26 to crash, A senior Russian officer stated that the aircraft was carrying 132 personnel when the max was 82. Two reports one of an engine fire and another of enemy action, the engine fire can clearly be seen in the news footage, which could still have been caused by AA fire.
Note: Two other aircraft were also lost that week, a Mi-8 belonging to the federal Border Guard Service with 2 crew and 1 guard killed and 5 injured.
A Mi-24 shot down in Kuznetsov the 2 crew tried to parachute to safety but the altitude was too low and they did not survive.