2015 Belgrade helicopter crash

On 13 March 2015, a Serbian Army Mil Mi-17 helicopter crashed just short of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport while transporting a five-day-old baby with respiratory problems to a nearby hospital. All seven people onboard, including four crew members, two medical personnel and the baby, were killed. The baby had to be flown from Novi Pazar to Belgrade by helicopter because of a landslide-induced road obstruction. The flight was ordered by Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar and Defence Minister Bratislav Gašić. Due to inclement weather, the helicopter made several circles around the airport and two landing attempts before crashing.

After the tragedy, it was revealed that the Government officials disregarded safety regulations in order to use the flight as a propaganda tool. This was confirmed by the fact that, before the crash, several government-affiliated news outlets had published a pre-written story about a "successful rescue operation" only to retract it when it became clear that the operation had ended in disaster. Although the pilot had asked for permission to divert the flight to either the Military Medical Academy's heliport or the Batajnica Air Base, this was repeatedly denied. The reason was speculated to be Lončar's desire to personally welcome the baby at the airport in front of the cameras for his personal self-promotion.

A national day of mourning was declared by the Serbian government on 15 March. Although several military rules were breached by those who ordered the operation, no criminal charges were ever laid and all the blame was shifted to the pilots. This case has since often been cited as one of the best known examples of corruption and lack of accountability in Serbian politics.

Incident

The Serbian Army Mil Mi-17 helicopter was carrying a five-day-old baby with life-threatening respiratory problems to Belgrade for treatment at the Institute for Health Care of Mother and Child. Military had been called out after an ambulance carrying the baby from Novi Pazar to Belgrade was blocked by a mudslide about 200 km (120 miles) south of Belgrade, near Raška. The helicopter departed from Novi Pazar and landed in Raška to receive the baby on board. Around 10:15 p.m. the helicopter crew made two landing attempts at the Belgrade Airport, but both were unsuccessful due to low visibility. Although the pilot asked for permission to divert the flight to either the Military Medical Academy's heliport or the Batajnica Air Base, this was repeatedly denied. The control tower lost contact with the helicopter at 10:30 p.m. and the helicopter disappeared from air traffic controllers' radar at 10.34 p.m. All seven people aboard were killed when the helicopter crashed into nearby fields. Beside the baby, the helicopter was carrying four army officers (two pilots and two flight engineers) and two medical staff (a doctor and a technician).

Brigadier general Predrag Bandić, commander of the 204th Air Brigade, said that the weather was "not dangerous, but was complex, so that pilots with such experience and equipment should have been able to handle it". He was the one who personally ordered the pilots to fly and stated that he would not have done so if the weather conditions had been dangerous.