View source for 2002 Khankala Mi-26 crash

{{Short description|Shootdown of a Russian Air Force helicopter by Chechen separatists}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
|occurrence_type = Incident
|name = 2002 Khankala Mi-26 crash
|image = VVS Mil Mi-26 Ryabtsev.jpg
|image_size = 260
|alt = 
|caption = A [[Russian Air Force|VVS]] [[Mil Mi-26]] similar to the helicopter that was shot down.
|date = 19 August 2002
|type = [[MANPAD]] shootdown
|site = [[Khankala]], [[Chechnya]]
|coordinates = {{Coord|43|17|49|N|45|46|12|E|type:event_region:RU-CE_source:kolossus-plwiki|display=title,inline}}
|passengers = 142<ref name="PlanCrashInfo">{{cite web|title=Accident Details|url=http://www.planecrashinfo.com/2002/2002-49.htm|publisher=Planecrashinfo.com|access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref>
|crew = 5<ref name="PlanCrashInfo"/>
|injuries = 20
|survivors = 20
|fatalities = 127<ref name=life/>
|aircraft_type = [[Mil Mi-26]]
|tail_number = 
|operator = [[Russian Air Force]]
}}
{{Campaignbox Second Chechen War (guerilla phase)}}

On 19 August 2002, a group of Chechen fighters armed with a [[man-portable air-defense system]] brought down a Russian [[Mil Mi-26]] helicopter in a [[minefield]], which resulted in the death of 127 Russian soldiers in the greatest loss of life in the history of helicopter aviation. It is also the deadliest aviation disaster ever suffered by the [[Russian Armed Forces]],<ref name=life/> as well as its worst loss of life in a single day since the 1999 start of the [[Second Chechen War]].<ref>{{cite news |title=A calamity, yet no end of war in sight |date=22 August 2002 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=http://www.economist.com/node/1292469 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707230636/https://www.economist.com/europe/2002/08/22/a-calamity-yet-no-end-of-war-in-sight |archive-date=2018-07-07}}</ref>

==Attack==
[[File:SA-18 misil y lanzador.jpg|thumb|A [[9K38 Igla]] launcher and missile]]

On 19 August 2002, [[Chechnya|Chechen]] separatist fighters launched a Russian-made [[9K38 Igla]] shoulder-fired, heat-seeking [[surface-to-air missile]] which hit an overloaded Mil Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter of the [[487th Separate Helicopter Regiment]], causing it to crash-land and burn at [[Khankala]] military air base near Chechnya's capital city of [[Grozny]]. The helicopter was ferrying 142<ref name="PlanCrashInfo"/> soldiers and officers belonging to various units, mostly from the [[20th Guards Motor Rifle Division]], from the [[Russian Air Force]] base at [[Mozdok, Republic of North Ossetia–Alania]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fyodorov |first=Ivan |date=15 December 2003 |title=Борт-200 |language=ru |work=Kommersant |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/435486 |access-date=1 June 2022}}</ref><ref name=ph>[http://www.sptimesrussia.com/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=7911 THE HELICOPTER CRASH AND THE PRICE OF WAR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919222714/http://www.sptimesrussia.com/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=7911 |date=19 September 2016 }}, ''The St. Petersburg Times'', 23 August 2002</ref><ref name=bbc/>

According to Russian military analyst [[Pavel Felgenhauer]]
 
{{quote|The missile hit one of the engines as the Mi-26 was approaching Khankala, and the helicopter crash-landed in a minefield that made up part of the federal military headquarters' perimeter defenses. Some of the survivors, attempting to abandon the wrecked Mi-26, are reported to have been killed by 'friendly' [[anti-personnel mine]] explosions.<ref name=ph/>}}

The interior of the helicopter flooded with fuel and its jammed doors could not be opened.<ref name=life/> Only the crew of five and 29 passengers managed to escape through the small cockpit exit hatch. Fourteen of the survivors died over the next few days from severe burns.<ref name=pete/>

Russian forces from Khankala launched a search for the attackers immediately after the crash, but only managed to recover the spent tube that had contained the Igla missile.<ref name=pete/>

==Aftermath==
On 21 August 2002, a [[national day of mourning]] was declared for the following day by the Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] in connection with the catastrophe, which the media called "the second ''[[Kursk submarine disaster|Kursk]]''".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/2206541.stm Russia to mourn helicopter dead], BBC News, 21 August 2002</ref> The separatist news agency [[Kavkaz Center]] described the crash as the "greatest act of sabotage by Chechen fighters in two years". Some Russian media, including ''[[Izvestiya]]'', voiced anger at an apparent cover-up attempt, accusing the military of "as usual" trying to conceal the casualties.<ref name=crash>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2204505.stm Russia outraged by Chechnya crash], BBC News, 20 August 2002</ref> The crash led to the suspension of the Russian army's Aviation commander, Colonel-General Vitaly Pavlov, who later resigned from his post in September.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mukhin |first=Vladimir |date=9 September 2002 |title="Сергей Иванов передал слова нашего президента: гибель Ми-26 - это второй "Курск"..." |language=ru |work=Nezavisimaya Gazeta |url=https://www.ng.ru/politics/2002-09-09/1_ivanov.html |access-date=1 June 2022}}</ref><ref>[http://english.pravda.ru/news/russia/politics/07-09-2002/17462-0/ Foreign Minister takes measures after Mi-26 helicopter crash near Khankala], Pravda.Ru, 7 September 2002</ref> The regimental commander of the 487th, Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Kudyakov, was convicted of negligence of allowing the helicopter to be overloaded but ultimately acquitted of the charges.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dyupin |first=Sergey |date=8 May 2003 |title=Командира полка сажают за сбитый вертолет |language=ru |work=Kommersant |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/380857 |access-date=1 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=22 December 2003 |title=Оправдан после амнистии |language=ru |work=Izvestia |url=https://iz.ru/news/285218 |access-date=1 June 2022}}</ref>

On 24 September,<ref>[http://amarillo.com/stories/2002/09/24/usn_videotape.shtml Brief: Videotape shows crash of Russian helicopter], Associated Press, 24 September 2002</ref> footage of the helicopter downing was obtained by the [[Associated Press]] from a Turkish news agency along with a statement by separatist Chechen President [[Aslan Maskhadov]] announcing: "Here is a helicopter that is on fire and falling near Khankala. It was hit by our Igla anti-aircraft missile." It was also the first video that showed Maskhadov using Islamic insignia and flag, instead of Chechen ones, and referring to the fighters around him as "our [[mujahideen]]", in what was seen as his apparent and abrupt turn towards [[Islamism]].<ref name=pete>[http://www.sptimesrussia.com/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=8218 CHECHNYA IS TRAPPED IN BLOODY DEADLOCK], ''The St. Petersburg Times'', 1 October 2002</ref> 

In an undated tape, Maskhadov recalls the Russian investigators' early official version that the helicopter crashed because of technical difficulties before announcing that it was shot down; he then presents a handgun to the fighter said to have downed the helicopter.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160216184706/http://russiajournal.com/node/12092 Chechens say are behind copter crash]}}, The Russia Journal, 23 September 2002</ref> The tape was also aired on television in Chechnya when the separatists used the [[REN TV]] frequency to broadcast it locally during that same month.<ref>[http://www.gazeta.ru/2003/02/04/RebelChechen.shtml Rebel Chechen Leader Captures TV], Gazeta.ru, 4 February 2003</ref>

It was believed that the missile that destroyed the helicopter was launched from one of the many battle-damaged five-story apartment blocks on the outskirts of Grozny. The Russian military responded to the loss of the Mi-26 by demolishing several blocks in the already half-destroyed Khankala residential area adjoining the base in November, in spite of protests from the pro-Russian Chechen administration. It was initially flatly denied by Colonel Boris Podoprigora, but later admitted by the Russian military spokesman Major-General Ilya Shabalkin, who said that the action was carried out with the goal of preventing the fighters from using the area to lay ambushes close to the base.<ref>[http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/11/06/ArmyrazesChe.shtml Army razes Chechen homes to protect helicopters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051111131044/http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/11/06/ArmyrazesChe.shtml |date=11 November 2005 }}, Gazeta.ru, 11 November 2002</ref>

As a result, around 100 families were left homeless and [[NTV (Russia)|NTV]] reported they were given barely any time to leave and could take only some personal belongings. Regarding this, General Shabalkin commented that the local residents "had been watching the bandits preparing terror attacks and failed to inform law enforcers of their plans" which "is considered to be abetting illegal armed formations, and complicity in a criminal plot".<ref>[http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/11/06/ArmyrazesChe.shtml Army razes Chechen homes to protect helicopters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051111131044/http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/11/06/ArmyrazesChe.shtml |date=11 November 2005 }}, Gazeta.ru, 11 November 2002</ref>

In response, the Russian [[State Duma]] deputy for Chechnya, [[Aslambek Aslakhanov]], demanded an explanation from the top military command in Chechnya. The area had been also shelled in August following an unrelated crash of a [[Mil Mi-8]] helicopter carrying two high-ranking Russian military officials, killing everyone on board, which was allegedly caused by a missile launched from the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny.<ref>[http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/11/06/ArmyrazesChe.shtml Army razes Chechen homes to protect helicopters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051111131044/http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/11/06/ArmyrazesChe.shtml |date=11 November 2005 }}, Gazeta.ru, 11 November 2002</ref>

The Mi-26 helicopter was designed to carry 80 troops, while the one that was destroyed was loaded with 142 passengers (according to [[Timur Aliyev]], "an indication in itself that the Russian military is reluctant to travel by road, even in areas like northern Chechnya far from the rebel heartlands"<ref>[http://iwpr.net/report-news/chechnya-russia-counts-cost Russia's biggest military disaster since war resumed in Chechnya in 1999 comes amid a new rebel offensive.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724050040/http://iwpr.net/report-news/chechnya-russia-counts-cost |date=24 July 2011 }}, IWPR, 21 Feb 5</ref>). According to the [[BBC]], citing ''[[Kommersant]]'', "The Mi-26 often flies to Khankala with 100–110 people on board, plus a huge amount of cargo, including cheap Ossetian vodka."<ref name=crash/> 

Felgenhauer wrote: "I once had a ride on a Mi-26 from Mozdok to Grozny, together with some 50 service personnel and journalists on top of a stockpile of crates with tons of artillery shells and other munitions."<ref name=ph/> In 2003, the Russian officer in charge of dispatching the helicopter, Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Kudyakov, was charged and convicted of [[negligence]] and violating flight regulations.<ref name=bbc/><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3009015.stm "Officer charged over Chechen air crash"], [[BBC News]], 7 May 2003</ref> ''[[Pravda]]'' commented that he "had to become a scapegoat" and according to Kudyakov himself the judge told him that he should have refused to go to Chechnya in the first place.<ref>[http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/05-08-2003/3475-helicopter-0/ Military Men Die in Chechnya. Who is Guilty?], Pravda.Ru, 5 August 2003</ref>

A Chechen accused of transporting the missile, preparing it for launching, and filming the attack, 27-year-old Grozny resident Doku Dzhantemirov, was found guilty of planning and carrying out "an act of terror" in April 2004. He was sentenced to [[life imprisonment]] for "terrorism, premeditated murder with special cruelty, banditry, and attempted murder of servicemen",<ref>[http://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/29-04-2004/56885-0/ Terrorist receives life sentence], Pravda.Ru, 29 April 2004</ref> and was also ordered to pay 100,000 rubles ($3,500) to the relatives of each victim and 50,000 rubles ($1,720) to each of the survivors.<ref name=bbc>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3669279.stm Chechen gets life for air attack], BBC News, 29 April 2004</ref> At his trial, Dzhantemirov maintained that he was not a terrorist but a soldier of the [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|state of Ichkeria]]. Four other Chechens accused of taking part in the attack were still being sought.<ref name=life>[https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,3604,1206452,00.html Chechen gets life for killing 127 Russian soldiers], ''The Guardian'', 30 April 2004</ref><ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/30/1083224588882.html Chechen rebel jailed for life over helicopter attack as Russian soldiers walk free], ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 1 May 2004</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Chechen wars}}
{{Aviation incidents and accidents in 2002}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia in the 2000s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khankala Mi-26 Crash}}
[[Category:2002 disasters in Russia]]
[[Category:2002 in Chechnya]]
[[Category:21st-century aircraft shootdown incidents]]
[[Category:August 2002 in Russia]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia in 2002]]
[[Category:Grozny in the Second Chechen War|2002]]
[[Category:Helicopter crashes of the Second Chechen War]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving military helicopters]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving Russian Air Force aircraft]]