Reports indicate that a helicopter crashed on more than a dozen Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), killing them.
When it crashed and destroyed before takeoff, the Mi-17 helicopter, which is mostly utilised for transportation, medical evacuation, and VIP travel, had just finished delivering a food consignment to the troops participating in Operation Shujaa.
The army spokesman, Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, confirmed last night over the phone that a Russian-built Mi-17 helicopter crashed in the eastern DRC.
“Yes, it is true one of our helicopters crashed. I haven’t received details about the causalities,” Brig.Gen Kulayigye said.
Asked about President Museveni issuing a radio message ordering an investigation into what exactly happened to the UPDF helicopter, he said “everytime there is an accident, a board of inquiry is established to investigate the matter and they have put up one in this incident.”
As the head of the armed forces, President Museveni appointed a commission to look into how and why military helicopters were falling from the sky.
According to a military radio message broadcast last night, Maj Gen Charles Okidi, Deputy Commander of the Uganda People’s Defence Air Force (UPDAF), will oversee the investigations.
The helicopter’s tail rotor impacted a tree while it was technically in a captain-supervised flight, causing it to spin out of control before landing onto the troops gathering the food.
Three days before the DRC incident, a Mi-24 assault helicopter crashed into the home of an old woman in Fort Portal City’s Kabarole District, raising questions about the safety of a crucial military service.
