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Copter Owned By Military Gear Maker Crashes In Montenegro (foreign nationals killed)
Serbianna ^ | September 26, 2005

Posted on 09/26/2005 3:32:42 PM PDT by joan

PODGORICA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP)--A helicopter belonging to a man charged with bribery in a military equipment scandal struck a power cable in northern Montenegro and plunged into a steep river canyon Monday, killing four people, police said.

The crash of the four-seat Gazelle chopper occurred around noon local time near Zabljak, 150 kilometers north of Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, police said in a statement.

A Serb pilot and three passengers - a Belgian, a Montenegrin, and an unidentified foreign national - were killed when the helicopter struck a high-voltage cable stretching over the 800-meter-deep Susica River canyon, police said.

The helicopter belonged to private military equipment manufacturer Mile Dragic, who was arrested last week and charged with offering bribes to military officials to secure an exclusive contract for his company with the Serbia-Montenegro army.

Dragic owned the four-seat French-designed helicopter produced in the 1980s under license by Bosnia's Soko aircraft company. Dragic in the past leased the chopper for private tours.

The helicopter took off Monday morning from Zrenjanin, northern Serbia, where Dragic's factory is located.

September 26, 2005 14:40 ET (18:40 GMT)


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: balkans

1 posted on 09/26/2005 3:32:43 PM PDT by joan
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To: Balkans; Sinestro; Pendragon60614

ping


2 posted on 09/26/2005 3:34:04 PM PDT by joan
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To: joan

Any pictures of the Gazelle? In better circumstances, of course.


3 posted on 09/26/2005 3:38:09 PM PDT by Ken522
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To: Ken522
Don't know about that particular Gazelle, but here is one from Yugoslavia/Serbia I found doing an image search:

And here are more from Google: Gazelle+helicopter

4 posted on 09/26/2005 3:43:35 PM PDT by joan
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To: Ken522

Okay, I did a dogpile.com search and found plenty of pictures.


5 posted on 09/26/2005 3:43:48 PM PDT by Ken522
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To: Ken522
Bernadette Peters' husband was one of the victims.

Bernadette Peters' husband killed in helicopter crash

6 posted on 09/27/2005 3:31:37 PM PDT by joan
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