Three injured as Mi-17 collides with bus during crash landing in Hidalgo, Mexico.
A Mexican Navy Mi-17 Hip utility helicopter has crashed shortly after takeoff in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo. The aircraft was reported to have 20 people on board when it crashed in in Agua Blanca, Mexico, a small coastal town.
Among those on board the aircraft when it crashed were reported to be the minister of the interior of the State of Veracruz.
Reports indicate the aircraft had just taken off to survey hurricane damage in the region.
Video shows the aircraft begin to rotate immediately after takeoff, then settle to the ground in what appears to be an emergency landing. The helicopter seemed to manage the emergency landing until a vehicle on the ground drove underneath the aircraft, was struck, and the helicopter rolled on its side as its main rotor struck the ground and disintegrated.
No cause for the crash has been reported. The Mexican military reportedly operates 22 of the Mi-17 helicopters. The aircraft involved in the accident may have been from the Mexican 1st Air Mobility, Observation and Transport Naval Air Squadron Gulf of Mexico Naval Air Force, with their headquarters in Tuxpan, Veracruz at Tampico Naval Air Base.
In October, 2018, a Mexican Navy Mi-17 helicopter with 12 people on board crashed into the sea off the coast of Baja California. The helicopter was patrolling the area looking for illegal fishing on Saturday, October 20, when it lost control in a similar manner to this most recent crash and spiraled into the Gulf of California according to reports in Russian media outlet Sputnik.
On Friday, November 11, 2011 Mexican Interior Minister Jose Francisco Blake Mora and seven others, including Deputy Interior Minister Felipe Zamora and spokesman Jose Alfredo Garcia died in a helicopter crash after takeoff from Mexico City on their way to Xochitepec, Morelos, Mexico for a meeting with prosecutors over a case involving the illegal narcotics industry.
The Mi-17 Hip is a widely produced and successful utility helicopter that first flew in 1975. Since then it has been produced and modified in many versions for use in over 80 countries as varied as the United States to North Korea.
