MOSCOW. Aug 26 (Interfax-AVN) - A bird flying into an engine may have caused the collision of two military helicopters in the Russian Far East on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry flight safety service told Interfax quoting eyewitnesses.
Two MI-24V Hind helicopters were landing at the Chernigovka airdrome after participating in military exercises at the Sergeyevsky test range when the crash occurred.
According to an eyewitness, when they were at an altitude of about 50 meters, a bird got caught in the engine of the following helicopter. "As a result, its lifting rotor collided with the tail boom of the leading helicopter. Both helicopters lost control and spun to the left where they crashed, exploded and burst into flames," a source at the flight safety service said.