Interesting story of a rescue in Sudan while under gunfire
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From: London/Atlanta
Interesting story of a rescue in Sudan while under gunfire
Saw this article on the BBC today, not sure if it has been posted here previously as it relates to an event a few years but certainly makes interesting reading. See below an extract from the article and a link to full story. Again apologies if this has been previously recounted on this forum.
They had already done one trip - on 6 March - successfully extracting 10 people after landing at a point designated for the UN to use.
The next day they returned - and all was going according to plan until the passengers began to board.
Firing started and, in the confusion, it was difficult to tell what was going on.
The first point that Capt Muzyka knew something was seriously wrong was when he saw blood oozing from his left arm.
Then his flight attendant Sergii Prykhodko - who was standing in front of the chief UN negotiator - was shot.
Capt Muzyka knew they were under attack, and his military training kicked in. "Shooting started from the front and right and then from the left back. I decided immediately to perform take-off," he said.
As he lifted up, he said he saw soldiers falling to the ground outside the aircraft.
"I couldn't say exactly what time we spent [between the start of gunfire and taking off] - maybe a tiny part of a second."
The frame of the helicopter continued to be hit as it became airborne, and the fuel tanks were punctured.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q1j0415kdo
They had already done one trip - on 6 March - successfully extracting 10 people after landing at a point designated for the UN to use.
The next day they returned - and all was going according to plan until the passengers began to board.
Firing started and, in the confusion, it was difficult to tell what was going on.
The first point that Capt Muzyka knew something was seriously wrong was when he saw blood oozing from his left arm.
Then his flight attendant Sergii Prykhodko - who was standing in front of the chief UN negotiator - was shot.
Capt Muzyka knew they were under attack, and his military training kicked in. "Shooting started from the front and right and then from the left back. I decided immediately to perform take-off," he said.
As he lifted up, he said he saw soldiers falling to the ground outside the aircraft.
"I couldn't say exactly what time we spent [between the start of gunfire and taking off] - maybe a tiny part of a second."
The frame of the helicopter continued to be hit as it became airborne, and the fuel tanks were punctured.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q1j0415kdo
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