Two pilots were killed when a Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopter of Russia crashed during a training flight near Torzhok in the country's Tver region on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said.
A rescue group found the chopper some ten kilometers west of Torzhok air field at 08:45 a.m. Moscow time. One pilot died immediately in the crash and the other died in hospital shortly after, Russia's official media reported quoting a Ministry spokesman.
There was no ammunition on board the helicopter when it crashed while on a training sortie.
The Ministry said flights of Ka-52 helicopters would not be suspended as a result of the accident which was being investigated by a panel of experts. The aircraft's flight data recorders would soon be handed over to the specialists to find out the cause of the accident, the spokesman said.
It was the first loss of a Ka-52 multirole attack helicopter, even though there have been previous accidents involving the single-seat Ka-50, from which the Ka-52 is derived.
A Ka-50 crashed in 1998 during an air display, killing the base commander at Torzhok. An official accident report said the helicopter's co-axial rotor blades hit each other during hard maneuvering.
The Ka-50 and Ka-52 are unique among helicopters in having ejection seats. The seats operate after explosives in the rotor head blow off the rotor blades to give the crew a safe exit, the report said.
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