1992 Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown

On January 28, 1992, Azerbaijani transport helicopter Mil Mi-8 was shot down by a heat-seeking missile[1] near the town of Shusha.

1992 Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown
An Mil Mi-8 similar to the accident helicopter
Accident
Date28 January 1992
SummaryShootdown
Sitenear Shusha, Nagorno-Karabakh
Aircraft
Aircraft typeMil Mi-8
OperatorAzerbaijani Air Force
Flight originAgdam
DestinationShusha
Passengers41
Crew3
Fatalities44
Survivors0

The 1993 report by U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on aviation security called it the "most significant incident" involving civil aviation in Central Eurasia.[1]

Background

Serious air warfare during the Nagorno-Karabakh War broke out in January 1992. Azeri aircraft became easy targets for Armenian armed forces. On January 9, the Armenians first claimed to have shot down an Azeri helicopter. More claims followed on January 24, 28 and 31 – all of them over Nagorno-Karabakh, the last being a Mi-8 downed from MANPADs over the village of Huha.[2] On January 31, the Azeris claimed the downings of two Mi-8s that supported the first Armenian offensive.[2]

Shootdown

The Mi-8 helicopter involved had 44 souls aboard (41 passengers, all civilians, and 3 crew) when it departed the town of Agdam for Shusha, which was blockaded by Armenians. The craft was downed en route by a surface-to-air missile. All aboard were killed.[2][3][4] According to Azeri journalist Kerim Kerimli, who assisted in collecting bodies at the site and confirmed the number of fatalities, the missile was launched from Stepanakert.[5]

Armenian officials stated that the helicopter was carrying weapons and ammunition to Azeris attacking Armenian villages.[2]

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See also

References
  1. "Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation" (PDF). U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  2. Tom Cooper. "Air War over Nagorniy-Kharabakh, 1988-1994". Air Combat Information Group. Archived from the original on 2014-08-21. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  3. "Terrorist-subversive actions committed in the territory of Azerbaijan". Azerbaijan's State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  4. Ilya Maksakov (ed.). Journalists in the Karabakh War. Moscow`: Prava Cheloveka, 2002.
  5. Керимли Керим. Журналисты на войне в Карабахе (PDF) (in Russian). Библиотека Центра экстремальной журналистики. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-04-04.

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