Disasters & Incidents
One soldier killed and four injured in Czech helicopter crash
One soldier died and four others were injured when a Czech military helicopter crashed Thursday, the army said.
The army said a Venom helicopter crashed at the 22nd helicopter base in Namest nad Oslavou, with five soldiers on board. Emergency services were deployed at the scene.
The airbase is about 200 kilometres southeast of Prague. Regional police spokeswoman Dana Cirtkova told the CTK news agency that police were informed of the accident at 12:11 pm, or 1011 GMT.
The Czech army bought eight UH-1Y Venom multi-purpose helicopters and four AH-1Z Viper combat helicopters from the United States in 2019. The final two aircraft were delivered in June 2024. American instructors trained Czech personnel on the new aircraft until last year.
Defence Minister Jaromir Zuna called the incident an immense tragedy and said an inquiry was under way to determine the cause of the crash.
Update
The army said one soldier died and four were injured.
The helicopter was identified as a Venom aircraft at the 22nd helicopter base in Namest nad Oslavou.
Police were informed of the accident at 12:11 pm, or 1011 GMT, according to a regional police spokeswoman cited by CTK.
The Namest nad Oslavou base is about 200 kilometres southeast of Prague.
The Czech army bought eight UH-1Y Venom helicopters and four AH-1Z Viper helicopters from the United States in 2019, with the final two aircraft delivered in June 2024.
American instructors trained Czech personnel on the new aircraft until last year.
Defence Minister Jaromir Zuna said an inquiry was under way to determine the cause.
Source note: AFP news report published on 23 July 2026 at 13:52:46 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
Source
AFP news report published on .