2 pilots killed as Russian military helicopter crashes in night training mission

Both crew members of the Mi-28 attack helicopter have died after crashing during a training flight in the Krasnodar region of Russia. The cause of the crash is being investigated, but it took place at night and in dense fog.

"On 11 December 2019, at about 11:00 pm [Moscow time, or 20:00 GMT], a Mi-28 helicopter crashed in the Krasnodar Territory near the Korenovsk airfield during a training flight, carried out at night time under difficult weather conditions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, confirming the crash and the deaths of the two crew members. They were identified as Squadron Leader Ruslan Kushnirenko and deputy training chief Aleksandr Sklyankin.

The wreckage of the helicopter was found approximately 2.5 kilometers from the airfield. It carried no ammunition on board. Mi-28 ‘Night Hunter,’ known as ‘Havoc’ in the NATO nomenclature, is an attack helicopter analogous to the US Apache.