KIEV (AP) — A police helicopter belonging to Ukraine‘sInterior Ministry crashed shortly after takeoff Tuesday in the central part of the country, killing five people on board, officials said.
The Mi-8 helicopter slammed into the ground at about 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. EST) just after taking off from an airport in the city of Alexandria in the Kirovograd region, about 200 miles southeast of the capital, Kiev, ministry spokesman Serhiy Burlakov said.
Investigators were working to determine what caused the helicopter to hit the ground as it was gaining speed, Mr. Burlakov said. Three of the dead were crew members, and two were ground staff on board the helicopter.
The Mi-8 is a workhorse helicopter used widely in civilian and military aviation in former Soviet states. Mi-8 crashes often are blamed on poor maintenance, aging equipment, a disregard for safety regulations and a cost-cutting mentality.
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