 A Georgian Mi-8 near Gudauri in 2006. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 29 July 2022 (2022-07-29) |
| Summary | Crashed while hovering, under investigation |
| Site | Near Gudauri, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Georgia |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Mil Mi-8 |
| Operator | Border Police of Georgia |
| Registration | GBP-10005 |
| Occupants | 8 |
| Passengers | 4 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 8 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On 29 July 2022, a Mil Mi-8 helicopter belonging to the Border Police of Georgia crashed during a rescue mission in a mountainous valley near Gudauri, a Greater Caucasus mountain resort in Georgia's northeast. All eight people on board died.
Accident
On 29 July 2022, a tandem paraglider suffered an accident near Gudauri, with the two occupants falling into a deep rocky gorge. The Border Police of Georgia dispatched a Soviet-designed Mi-8 helicopter—piloted by the veteran officer Colonel Zaza Loria—on a rescue mission. The helicopter lost control while hovering over the gorge and crashed, killing all eight people on board, including four crew members, two emergency physicians, and two rescuers. Subsequently, one of the people paragliding, a foreign tourist, was also found dead; the other, injured, was retrieved by ambulance to safety. According to a police report, a tail rotor failure might have caused the crash.
Reactions
After the crash, the next day was declared a national day of mourning in Georgia. President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili posthumously awarded the crew, rescuers and first responders with the Medal for Civic Dedication. The accident also reignited a broader discussion about the safety of paragliding business, which remained largely unregulated at the time of the disaster, and the ability of the Interior Ministry to handle similar incidents with the available equipment and transports.
References
- ^ Gabritchidze, Nini (1 August 2022). "Recriminations follow Georgian helicopter tragedy". Eurasianet. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- "შსს გუდაურში ჩამოვარდნილ ვერტმფრენსა და ეკიპაჟის წევრებზე ინფორმაციას ავრცელებს" (in Georgian). RFE/RL. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- "Rescuers, first respondents who died in Gudauri helicopter crash awarded Civic Dedication Medal". Agenda.ge. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
| Aviation accidents and incidents in 2022 (2022) | |
|---|---|
| Feb 3 Þingvallavatn plane crashMar 21 China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735Mar 29 Pakistan Army Aviation Corps helicopter crashApr 7 DHL de Guatemala Flight 7216May 12 Tibet Airlines Flight 9833May 29 Tara Air Flight 197Jun 21 RED Air Flight 203Jun 24 Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 crashJul 16 Meridian Flight 3032Jul 29 Gudauri helicopter crashSep 4 Mutiny Bay DHC-3 Otter crashSep 4 Baltic Sea Cessna Citation crashOct 17 Yeysk military aircraft crashOct 21 Caribbean Sea P.180 Avanti crashOct 23 Irkutsk military aircraft crashOct 23 Korean Air Flight 631Nov 6 Precision Air Flight 494Nov 12 Dallas air show mid-air collisionNov 18 LATAM Perú Flight 2213 | |
| 2021 ◄ ► 2023 |
| Aviation accidents and incidents in Georgia (country) | |
|---|---|
| Georgian SSR |
|
| Georgia |
|
| This includes accidents in the Georgian SSR and post-independence Georgia * refers to accidents and incidents that took place in Abkhazia. | |