From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

2007 Paramount Airlines Mil Mi-8 crash

2007 helicopter accident

Field	Value
name	2007 Paramount Airlines helicopter crash
image	9l-lbt.jpg
caption	9L-LBT, the aircraft involved in the accident.
Date	3 June 2007
Type	Mechanical failure
occurrence_type	Accident
Site	Lungi, Sierra Leone
Occupants	22
Fatalities	22
aircraft_type	Mil Mi-8
Tail Number	9L-LBT
Operator	Paramount Airlines
Passengers	20
Crew	2
Survivors	0

On 3 June 2007 a Mil Mi-8 helicopter operated by Paramount Airlines crashed near Lungi International Airport in Sierra Leone, killing approximately 20 to 22 people.

Background

In 2007, helicopter, hovercraft, and sea ferry were the only practical ways to travel between the airport and the capital, Freetown, which are separated by the Sierra Leone River as it meets the Atlantic Ocean.

The passengers on board were Togolese football fans who were returning from watching their national team play that of Sierra Leone, and the two pilots were of Ukrainian origin. The passengers had chartered the aircraft specifically for the flight.

Crash and emergency response

According to an eyewitness, both pilots jumped out immediately prior to the crash. Later reports stated that 22 were killed, and that the Russian copilot was the only survivor.

The aircraft caught fire upon impact and was destroyed before firefighters were able to extinguish the flames.

According to airport witnesses the firefighters did not attend the scene until 40 minutes after the crash. The firefighter who had the keys to the fire truck was not at his station in the airport at the time. Airport staff had to douse the flames with buckets of water.

Investigation

Togo sent a six-person delegation to help investigate the crash, as most of the dead were Togolese football fans visiting for an African Cup of Nations qualifying match on Sunday. They included Togolese Minister of Sports Richard Attipoe.

Sierra Leone's Minister of transport and communications Dr Prince Harding as well as the two top aviation officials in the country lost their jobs as a result of the crash and a commission of enquiry was set up.

References

"Aviation Safety Network - Accident Mil Mi-8T 9L-LBT, Sunday 3 June 2007".
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6715937.stm Sierra Leone air crash kills 19] – [[BBC News]] – Published 4 June. Retrieved 7 June 2007.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

aviation-accidents-and-incidents-in-sierra-leone aviation-accidents-and-incidents-in-2007 2007-in-sierra-leone 2007-in-togo accidents-and-incidents-involving-the-mil-mi-8 june-2007-in-africa

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 2007 Paramount Airlines Mil Mi-8 crash — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report