Defense Minister reveals cause of Mi-26 helicopter crash in Chechnya

The Mi-26 helicopter that crashed near the military base Khankala,Chechnya, on August 19, 2002 was shot down from a portable anti-aircraftmissile launcher Igla, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov toldjournalists in Moscow today. According to him a guided missile hit thehelicopter's right engine and completely destroyed it. Simultaneously theleft engine also failed and the helicopter crashed, the Ministerspecified.As it was reported earlier, as a result of the incident 118 people thatwere on board the aircraft died..