2021 Garaheybat Mil Mi-17 crash

The Garaheybat Mil Mi-17 crash (Qaraheybət helikopter qəzası / Qaraheybət vertolyot qəzası) occurred on 30 November 2021, during military drills of Azerbaijani State Border Service (SBS) Mil Mi-17 helicopter in the Garaheybat training zone located in the Khizi District. Fourteen people were killed and two were injured in the helicopter crash. This was the largest aircraft crash in the history of Azerbaijan's law enforcement agencies.

Immediately after the accident, the representatives of the SBS and the Prosecutor General's Office arrived at scene. An investigation was launched under the leadership of Deputy Chief of the Prosecutor General's Office Elchin Mammadov. The cause of the accident is still being investigated.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other political figures in the country, foreign embassies in Azerbaijan, as well as international organizations expressed condolences to the victims.

Background

The deadliest helicopter crash in the history of Azerbaijan took place on 20 November 1991, near Karakend, in Khojavend District, which resulted in the deaths of 22 people, including senior government officials. Furthermore, on 24 July 2019, an Azerbaijani Air Force MIG-29 aircraft carrying out drills suddenly disappeared from radars. The pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Rashad Atakishiyev, went missing as the plane crashed into the Caspian Sea. His body was recovered after a long-running search.

Crash

On 30 November 2021, at about 10:40 local time, an Azerbaijani State Border Service Mil Mi-17 helicopter took off from the Sangachal airfield and crashed during drills at the Garaheybat training zone, located within the Khizi District. The head of the State Border Service of Azerbaijan, Elchin Guliyev, stated that the pilot was experienced and that he was a participant in the First Karabakh War, that the helicopter was almost new and had recently been repaired. Guliyev stated that the flight recorder of the helicopter was found, adding that no outside forces were involved in the incident. Emil Jafarov, a lieutenant colonel among the event's two survivors, said that there were no signs prior to the incident that the plane could crash.

According to preliminary reports, two colonels, three majors, four captains, two lieutenants and a civilian contractor were killed, while a colonel and a captain were injured in the crash.