Algerian Air Force Mi-8/17/171 Crash

An Algerian Air Force Mi-171 helicopter crashed near El Attaf, in Aïn Defla province about 160 kilometres west of Algiers, during a planned training flight. The defence ministry said the three crew members aboard were killed and that an investigation had been opened to establish the cause. The Mi-171 is a modernised derivative of the Mi-8 and forms the backbone of Algeria's transport and assault helicopter fleet, one of the largest in Africa, used for troop movement, resupply and internal security missions across the mountainous north and the Saharan south of the country.