Wed, Jan 30, 2008
Twenty Lost In January 23 Downing; Tree Strike Suspected
The fatal downing of a CASA C-295M troop transport in Poland
earlier this month has led the Defense Ministry of Slovenia to
cancel its planned purchase of the type, according to Reuters.
The Polish plane -- carrying 16 members of the country's armed
forces returning from a flight safety conference, and four
crewmembers -- crashed in a heavily-forested area in northwestern
Poland on the evening of January 23, as it approached to land at an
air base near Miroslawiec.
All onboard the twin-turboprop transport were lost, and the
investigation into what went wrong is still underway. Early reports
indicate the plane may have clipped trees on its approach to the
base.
It's unknown whether a fault exists with the C-295 -- which,
until the Poland crash, had not been involved in a fatal crash in
its 10-year history -- that may have led to the downing... but the
accident was enough to rattle Slovenian officials, who earlier this
month selected the C-295 for its own transport needs.
"The security of Slovenian soldiers and military personnel is at
the top of our standards," the Defense Ministry said this week.
"Under the circumstances the ministry decided to stop the process
of a purchase of a tactical transport plane for the army."
The C-295 is manufactured by Spanish planemaker EADS-CASA.
As ANN reported, the type was
also one of the contenders for the US military's Joint Cargo
Aircraft (JCA) program, but lost out on the bid to the C-27J
Spartan.
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