Niger Air Force Mi-17 Crash

A Niger Air Force Mi-171Sh transport helicopter crashed at Kantchari in eastern Burkina Faso, near the Nigerien border, on a Monday morning while carrying personnel and equipment for counter-terrorism operations, according to Military Africa. The helicopter reportedly lost lift in its own rotor downwash, struck the ground hard, shed a rotor blade and was severely damaged. The authorities had not confirmed casualty figures at the time of the report. It was the second Mi-17 the Nigerien air arm lost within a year, in a fleet already short of transport helicopters for operations in the Sahel.