Myanmar Junta Helicopter Crashes in Chin State
By The Irrawaddy 29 March 2022
A military helicopter crashed and injured five people onboard at Hakha, Chin State’s capital, on Tuesday morning, according to Myanmar’s junta.
It is the third air force crash since June. Myanmar’s air force is known for frequent deadly crashes, even during training exercises, due to its largely outdated fleet.
The regime blamed Tuesday’s crash on “instability in the air” while the helicopter tried to land at a battalion headquarters in Hakha.
Pictures show the tail broken from the body.
The regime said the helicopter was carrying exam papers for Thursday’s school tests.
“All three civilian staff and two military personnel on board were injured but not seriously,” it added.
The junta regularly uses airstrikes to attack resistance forces in Sagaing and Magwe regions and Chin, Karen and Kayah states.
The crash was warmly received on social media with comments saying it was one fewer helicopter available to use against resistance fighters.
In June last year, 12 people, including one of Myanmar’s most influential Buddhist monks and several military officers, were killed when a military airplane crashed near Anisakan Airport in Pyin Oo Lwin Township, Mandalay Region.
Last month, a jet fighter pilot was killed when his plane crashed into a lake in Sagaing Region due to a technical failure.
In 2017, a military plane crashed into the Andaman Sea, killing all 122 people on board. The authorities blamed bad weather.
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