The Mil-Mi-8 passenger helicopter was shot down near Shusha in 1992

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The downing of the Mil-Mi-8 passenger helicopter near Shusha in January 1992 by Armenian units is considered to be one of the largest civil aviation disasters at the start of active fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region . All 44 inmates, including women and children, lost their lives in the accident.

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A Mil Mi-8, the type of helicopter that was shot down

Already towards the end of 1991 the armed clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijani over control of Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring provinces intensified.

On January 28, 1992 to was Azal Azerbaijan Airlines belonging Mil Mi-8TW -Passagierhubschrauber on landing near the majority of Azerbaijani inhabited city Shusha with a MANPADS (one-man ground-to-air missile) shot down. The flying machine with 44 civilians on board was on its way from Agdam to the city of Shusha, which was encircled by the Armenian army at that time. All 41 passengers and 3 crew members were killed.

The pilot Viktor Vasilyevich Seryogin managed to prevent the burning and falling flying machine from crashing into the residential areas in Shusha. For this he was posthumously declared the national hero of the Republic of Azerbaijan .

The Ministry of National Security of the Republic of Azerbaijan classified the shooting as an act of terrorism.

The Armenian side confirmed that they had deployed the missile system and crashed the helicopter. The reason given was that Azerbaijan allegedly wanted to transport ammunition on board to attack Armenian villages in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In a 1993 report by the US Federal Aviation Administration , the downing of the Mil Mi-8 is described as the "most momentous incident" in civil aviation in the Caucasus .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Илья Максаков: Журналисты на войне в Карабахе. “Права человека”, 2002, accessed February 1, 2019 (Russian).
  2. ↑ Миль Ми-8Т (ТВ) Бортовой №: СССР-24137. Retrieved February 1, 2019 (Russian).
  3. ↑ ТЕРРОРИСТИЧЕСКО-ДИВЕРСИОННЫЕ АКТЫ В АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНЕ. Retrieved February 1, 2019 (Russian).
  4. ↑ US Deportment of Transportation / Federal Aviation Administration: Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation. August 12, 1993, accessed February 1, 2019 .