Zimbabwean Air Force Agusta Bell AB 412 Helicopter Crashes into House, 3 Crew, One Child Killed

A Zimbabwean Air Force (ZAF) Agusta Bell AB 412 helicopter crashed into a house in a residential area in Arcturus, 32km east of the capital Harare, on Friday killing its three crew members and a child on the ground.

A woman and her daughter who were in the house, were rushed to hospital with burn injuries. The helicopter was on a training mission and included two pilots and an instructor, a ZAF release said.

The helicopter took off from Manyame Air Force Base with two pilots and one aircraft technician on board on a general handling training sortie in the Seke-Domboshava training area. When contact could not be established with the aircraft, the base activated a search and rescue operation.

The Air Force said the cause of the accident will be established after an air crash investigation.

The 412 utility helicopter is manufactured by Bell Helicopters and AgustaWestland under a licensed production arrangement for the European, African and Middle East civil and military markets.