Free Republic

At least five people, including three Russians, were killed in a helicopter crash in Turkey Thursday, according to Russian Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsia. The Kamov Ka-32 helicopter hit a mountainous slope before it crashed into a valley during a firefighting mission, killing all five people on board, Xinhua quoted a spokesperson for Rosaviatsia as saying. The other two killed were Turkish citizens, the spokesperson said. The accident would be investigated by Turkish authorities with assistance from Rosaviatsia and Interstate Aviation Committee, an organisation authorized to oversee the use and management of civil aviation in the Commonwealth of Independent States,...

MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti) - Spanish company Helisureste will purchase two fire fighting helicopters from Russia's Kamov producer under a contract signed late last week, the Russian company said Monday. "Considering Helisureste's last contract, the Kamov will supply four Ka-32 helicopters in 2006," the company said. The Spanish company has been operating Ka-32 helicopters since 1995. In 2004 and 2004, the company received four Ka-32 helicopters and has successfully employed them since then to put out fires in Europe, the company said. Helisureste's technical director said the 2005 fire-fighting season proved the Ka-32 helicopters to be the best...