One Dead in Mi-8MTV Military Helicopter Crash in Kyrgyzstan
On Wednesday, January 17, at 10:55 local time (04:55 GMT), a Kyrgyz Air Force Mi-8MTV military helicopter crashed for an unknown reason during a training flight near the capital of Bishkek. One of the twelve soldiers on the helicopter died in the accident, while the remaining eleven were injured.
According to a statement released by Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Defense, the injured had been transported to a hospital, and an investigation into the incident has begun. The ministry also stated that some air force officials were temporarily relieved of their duties to conduct an objective investigation.
The former Soviet helicopter involved in the accident belonged to military unit No. 23565, which was stationed at Frunze-1 airbase. This unit includes Mil Mi-8 helicopters as well as Mil Mi-24 attack helicopters. These aircraft, which have been in service with the Kyrgyz Air Force for a long time but are unable to fully meet the air force’s demands due to technological constraints, have been involved in numerous accidents in recent years.
The most well-known of these incidents occurred on July 9, 2018, when a Kyrgyz Air Force Mi-8 helicopter crashed due to strong winds after rescuing tourists stranded in the Inylchek mountains in the south. The helicopter had four crew members, a tour guide, and a medical officer, as well as two German, four Polish, and three Japanese citizens. The accident injured six people, three of whom were soldiers, and the other three were tourists. Another tragic incident occurred in the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan in June 2021, when a Kyrgyz Air Force Mi-8 helicopter crashed due to strong winds. One of the fifteen people on the helicopter was killed as a result of this incident.
For this, and similar reasons, Kyrgyzstan has invested $600 million in the development of its air force since 2021. Among the military equipment procured within the scope of this budget were Bayraktar TB2, Bayraktar Akıncı, TAI Aksungur and TAI Anka unmanned aerial vehicles from Turkey, as well as Mi-17V-5 helicopters and Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles from Russia. Furthermore, during this period, Uzbekistan donated two Mi-8MTV military helicopters to Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz Air Force intends to purchase additional military helicopters and aircraft in the near future as part of its modernization program.