Press conference concerning the military helicopter accident

In the crash of the Mi-17 transport helicopter that crashed tonight near Belgrade Airport Nikola Tesla near Surcin, during a search and rescue operation, seven persons were killed: pilots Major Omer Mehic and Captain Milovan Djukelic, two flight engineers - Ensign Nebojsa Drajic and Ensign Ivan Miladinovic, doctor Dzevad Ljajic, anesthesiologist Miroslav Veselinovic and a baby of the Ademovic family from Novi Pazar.

On this occasion, a press conference was held today at the Central Military Club of Serbia, where responses about the circumstances of the tragedy were given by Chief of General Staff General Ljubisa Dikovic, Air Force and Air Defence Commander Major General Ranko Zivak, Commander of the 204th Air Force Brigade Brigadier General Predrag Bandic, Commander of the 890th Mixed Helicopter Squadron Lieutenant Colonel Miroslav Zecevic and Head of the Public Relations Department Battleship Captain Petar Boskovic.

The conference began with a minute of silence and deepest condolences to the families of the killed that had, as so many times before, took off to save another life.

According to General Dikovic, who had visited the scene of the tragedy during the night with Minister of Defence Bratislav Gasic, this is a great tragedy that has occurred to the Serbian Armed Forces and the families of the killed members of the defence system and the medical staff of the Medical Center of Novi Pazar.

– The had saved thousands of lives in rescue actions during floods, fires, snow storms, and, unfortunately, they didn’t manage to save the life of the baby born 5 days ago and they gave their lives for this endeavor. They gave their lives for a newborn baby of the citizens of our Serbia – General Dikovic stressed.

General Dikovic also stressed that the authorities have conducted the initial part of the work and will continue their work in accordance with their authorities and the law.

– I have formed a commission for determining the cause of the accident, and its task is to determine why and how it happened, whether there is responsibility and whose it is. The Air Force Commander, in accordance with the flying protocol, formed a technical-expert team whose task is to determine possible causes of any malfunction in the aircraft and causes of technical nature. Both commissions are launched in effect – General Dikovic stressed, adding that members of the families of the killed will be taken care of.

When it comes to responsibility, Chief of the General Staff assessed that there is responsibility and that he feels it, as much as the rest of the present associates.

– We do not share it, because each of us is responsible for one’s own part, and their extent will be determined by authorities, and you will be informed on that. One cannot hold no responsibility when being in charge of an organization, of its functioning and work, and of the work of each individual that is a part of it, and this is where, undoubtedly, on behalf of the Serbian Armed Forces, I feel my responsibility lies – General Dikovic stated, adding that responsibilities are yet to be further discussed.

According to him, the investigation of the scene of the accident is finished, and the authorities continued with their work in accordance with the law.

Discussing the course of the events, General Bandic said that the crew was on call at the emergency response forces in the search and rescue system at Batajnica Airport when the decision about their takeoff was made.

– Around 19.30, we received a standard request from medical institutions for aid in rescuing the baby, whose transport to an adequate hospital was disenabled by a road blockage due to the rockfall on the Ibar highway. From 19.30 until the moment of the takeoff, around 20.15, complete overview of the meteorological situation at airports Batajnica and Nikola Tesla, Morava in Kraljevo and in Raska region where landing was expected to occur was conducted. Also, in direct communication with the medical staff, the condition of the child and the urgency of the event were determined. In contact with the crew, I was personally assured of their readiness to conduct the task, of their knowledge of the meteorological situation and the way the flight was to be performed. I personally issued the order to take off, as so many times before, based on the decision of the Minister of Defence, I assessed everything and decided they could take off – General Bandic stressed.

According to him, the flight went completely normally to Raska, where the takeover of the child was organized in the barracks in Raska, and the transport began one hour after takeoff.

– The flight was being conducted with no problems until Mladenovac, and then, due to the abrupt worsening of the meteorological situation, it was decided for the landing to take place where, at the moment, we considered was most optimal – at Nikola Tesla Airport which has all adequate land devices for instrumented landing, and all means that enable such a crew conduct the task in fullest without great risks and where medical teams have the easiest approach and thus can help rescue the child the quickest. Around 22.15, two unsuccessful landing attempts occurred at Nikola Tesla Airport due to limited visibility. At 22.31, all communication with the crew was lost. From that moment on began the search and rescue of the heroes who were conducting the mission of searching and rescuing a life – General Bandic stressed.

He confirmed that, before the takeoff, they had been completely assured of the functionality of the helicopter – the chosen aircraft was equipped with all functioning devices for conducting such a task, and the crew performing the task that had been awarded numerous times for their previous achievements, General Bandic stressed, would be the pride of any commander.

Discussing the safety of the aircraft before the referral to the mission, General Zivak stressed that this is an imperative issue in each air force when it comes to each tasks, including flying. For conducting the task in a safe and proper way, as he stressed, appropriate conditions must be made, all necessary factors must be secured for it to be conducted successfully.

– Just how much of a sensitive issue this is can be seen in the consequences that can be felt and that we all feel as colleagues, friends, long-time associates, in our empathy with their families. In the past ten years, we have made a line of efforts to improve our security system; we have conducted the organizational upgrade of flight security system, we have separated flight security bodies from the Air Force Command, from brigade commands to squadron commands, in order to have as many people as possible watching and acting in prevention of endangerment of flight security. We have trained our staff, in our country and abroad, in order to upgrade the flight security system to a higher level – General Zivak stressed, adding that the aircraft that had crashed is at the very top in war aviation.

He reminded that the last accident with this type of helicopter with such severe consequences occurred in 1996, and the case of malfunction was indicated per every 290 hours of flight last year, which, as he stressed, is at the very top in aviation, right after Gazelle helicopter.

– This is all owing to the level of training of people conducting flights and those that maintained this technique – Air Force and Air Defence Commander explined.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Zecevic, the crew that was killed in the aircraft accident was the best the units he is in charge of could offer in the on-call search and rescue team.

– Major Mehic, senior flight coach with the title of a flight instructor, with over 4,000 hours of overall flight and capability to fly Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters, was the head of the crew, with the duty of the assistant commander for transport and search and rescue, and he was also conducting the duty of deputy squadron commander – Lieutenant Colonel Zecevic stated.

As he stressed, Captain Djukaric was a pilot of 4th category of technical combat training and one of the pilots with the perspective of reaching the highest positions in piloting and air training through further training.

– Ensign Drajic, flight engineer for both types of medium multipurpose helicopters, was a test engineer pilot with over 1,000 hours of flight. Also, Ensign Miladinovic, test engineer pilot, had over 1,000 hours of flight – Lieutenant Colonel Zecevic stressed, adding that the aforementioned crew members were the basis of functioning of this squadron.

As he said, the helicopter they used was among those in best condition in the unit he is in charge of, fully equipped with all navigational means and meteorological radar, systems for instrumented landing and all necessary elements for performing such flight.

While answering to press inquiries, General Dikovic stressed that Wednesday is the deadline for the commission formed upon his order to submit the report, and that the technical commission of the Air Force and Air Defence will submit its report by Monday, March 30. He also stressed that it had been assessed that deployment of the SAF helicopter was the fastest was to assist the child whose life was in danger.

Discussing the justification of the rescue action via air, General Bandic said that the medical institutions informed that that emergency evacuation of the child was necessary, and, when asked why the child had not been transferred to the medical center in Kragujevac as it had been previously planned, General Bandic stressed that, due to the lack of adequate landing conditions near the medical center in Kragujevac, it had been decided for the landing to take place where the admission was the most organized – at the Institute for Medical Care of Mother and Child in Belgrade.

The meteorological conditions, as General Bandic stressed, was complex, but not unfavorable for pilots with such equipment and level of training to handle.

As General Bandic explained, both the aircraft and Nikola Tesla Airport, where landing had been attempted twice, had all the necessary equipment for this type of landing.

When asked about the details of the helicopter’s equipment, General Zivak responded that this was the best-equipped helicopter whose equipment had been installed during the modernization and overhaul in 2010, and, as he explained, along with the instrumental landing system, radar vectoring had also been performed, and was followed by an on-call service of the Air Defence.