Communication between Mi-17 pilot and tower revealed

Communication between Mi-17 pilot and tower revealed

The daily writes that the pilot, Omer Mehic, initially said he could see the runway, and was then cleared to land.

But afterwards, Mehic told the tower that he could not see the runway and decided to raise the altitude of the craft, making it tilt to the left. The pilot's attempted maneuver to straighten the craft then resulted in the helicopter crashing to the ground.

The report contains this exchange between the pilot and Nikola Tesla's air traffic control:

Mehic: I can see the runway.

Tower: Welcome, approach, you're on the runway's threshold. Feel free to descend. A car will wait for you at the site to escort you.

Mehic: I can't see the runway, I can't see it.

Tower: You're at the runaway, feel free to descend.

The pilot then reduced the helicopter's speed to 140 kmph and approached the runway, but once again complained that he could not see it and could not land.

At this point he used the helicopter's internal communications link to ask his crew whether any of them could see a place to land, but received no answer.

"We're going to climb," Mehic said. After this, the helicopter gained speed and reached an altitude of 250 meters, but then tilted to its left, prompting the pilot to attempt a sharp turn to the right.

The next moment, the daily writes, "the helicopter faltered, and headed toward the ground."

According to the report, the military experts confirmed that the Mi-17 was not running out of fuel as it had 640 liters left - enough for 75 more minutes in the air.

These experts described the weather conditions as "complex, but not decisive" for the tragedy. The report said that "rain and fog did not represent an obstacle to carrying out the task," and that Mehic "did everything according to procedures."

The pilot "considered the possibility of landing in Kraljevo or in Belgrade's Banjicki Vis, but decided to land at the Nikola Tesla Airport."