Incredibly, the camera survived the crash.
The video in this post was allegedly filmed on Aug. 20, 2014, somewhere near Lugansk where a Ukrainian Mi-24 Hind gunship helicopter was hit and shot down by an anti-aircraft missile while on patrol with another helicopter of the same type.
Both crew members, reportedly Major Oleg Biryukov and Captain Anton Rodionov, died in the crash.
It looks like the Hind was flying at low altitude, when it was hit by a missile: in a matter of seconds the helicopter hit the ground and (probably exploded) with the camera the crew members brought with them in the cockpit among the only surviving things.
The photograph below shows the wreckage of the chopper.
Image credit: http://militarizm.livejournal.com/78942.html
According to the information available on the Internet, the helicopter downed by the pro-Russia separatists was Mi-24P “Yellow 15” from the 7th Army Aviation Regiment, a gunship that had been already hit and damaged by Donetsk People Republic fighters near Slavyansk.
Several Mi-24 helicopters and many other Ukrainian aircraft have been shot down by MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense Systems) in eastern Ukrainian during clashes with Russia-backed separatists.
H/T to Matt Fanning for the heads-up
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Wow, no alerts, no nothing. RIP
That’s a bit tough to watch. Barely even enough time to cry out. I survived a helicopter incident while serving with the US Army (other folks passed, I received some closed head injuries, two broken vertebra, and a compound fracture of the femur) and this brought back some memories that I’d consciously forgotten. Mainly the second it lurches and leaves controlled flight. It’s almost as if it could have been survivable, but with how fast the Hind is, and its relatively low altitude I can guarantee that was exceedingly violent. Crew seems to, thankfully, have been killed on impact. The only worse thing would be conscious and trapped in the burning/exploding helicopter. Seems they were spared of that, mercifully.
Thoughts and prayers to those fighting on both sides…and their families.
Every combat helicopter pilots worst fear. RIP.
You need to read the Budaest memorandum. When Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons, russia guaranteed Ukraine’s existing borders.