09.08.2003, 10:45
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Zitat:MOSCOW - In a blow for the beleaguered Russian Air Force, it lost one helicopter to rebel fire in Chechnya and another two aircraft in training missions elsewhere in Russia in just one day, officials said Friday.
An Mi-8 helicopter was downed by rebel fire in Chechnya on Thursday. Its pilot was killed in the crash but another two crew members survived, Russian Air Force chief, Col.-Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov said Friday, according to the Interfax-Military News Agency.
Another Mi-8 helicopter crashed Thursday on a routine training mission in the southern Saratov region, and its crew survived the crash with injuries.
The Russian NTV television showed the badly damaged helicopter sitting on the ground, its tail section broken and rotor blades disfigured.
The crash occurred when the helicopter's engine developed a strong vibration, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing. The helicopter just avoided slamming into a gas station, NTV said.
Also on Thursday, an Su-24 jet bomber of the Russian air force crashed on a training mission in southeastern Siberia, killing both pilots.
Mikhailov said that the jet hit a mountain slope while trying to land in adverse weather conditions. He said that crew error and a flight controllers' mistake contributed to the crash, the Interfax-Military News Agency reported.
Mikhailov lamented inadequate pilot skills resulting from poor training, saying that military pilots now fly an average of 40 hours a year, less than the required minimum of about 100 hours. Pilots from Western air forces log several hundred hours a year.
The shortage of funds, which limits pilots training, has also made it difficult for the military to maintain its deteriorating Soviet-built aircraft, contributing to an increasing number of crashes.
Mikhailov also said that the funding problems led to the loss of the military's ability to control air traffic over a large part of Russia. He was quoted by the Interfax-Military News Agency as saying that military radars control only about one third of Russia's northern border.