Six dead as Qatar military helicopter crashes after ‘technical malfunction’ | Military News

Seven people were on board, with Interior Ministry saying operations continue ‌to find one missing person.

At least six people on board a Qatari military helicopter have been killed in a crash in the Gulf state’s waters after a “technical malfunction”, the government said.

Seven people were on board, with Qatar’s Ministry of Interior saying on Sunday that specialised operations continue ‌to find another missing person.

Earlier on Sunday, Qatar’s Ministry of Defence posted on X that the helicopter had a technical malfunction during a “routine duty”, which led to its crash in the territorial waters of the country.

No immediate information was available on the cause beyond the technical malfunction, and there was no indication that the crash was the result of hostile action.

According to the Defence Ministry, the deceased were identified as pilot Captain Mubarak Salem Daway al-Marri, Sergeant Fahad Hadi Ghanem al-Khayarin, Corporal Mohammed Maher Mohammed (all three from Qatar Armed Forces); Major Sinan Tastekin (Qatar-Turkiye Joint Forces); as well as Turkish civilian collaborators Suleiman Cemra Kahraman and Ismail Anas Can.

The ministry’s statement said the search operation for another pilot, Captain Saeed Nasser Samekh from the Qatar Armed Forces, is still in progress.

The Defence Ministry extended “its sincere condolences” to the families of the victims.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence ‌said in a statement that one of its ⁠soldiers and two personnel from Turkish defence ⁠firm Aselsan were killed ⁠in the helicopter crash, adding the aircraft had crashed due to a technical issue during ⁠a training flight.

The statement added that Qatari authorities would carry out inspections ‌to determine the exact cause of ‌the ‌crash.

Repeated attacks

The incident occurred amid heightened regional tensions.

Qatar has faced repeated strikes since the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28, with the Gulf country intercepting hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles.

Earlier this week, Iranian attacks on the Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar’s main natural gas facility, caused “significant damage”.

Iranian attacks ‌have knocked out 17 percent of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, causing an estimated $20bn loss in annual revenue, Saad al-Kaabi, QatarEnergy’s CEO and state minister for energy affairs, told the Reuters news agency on Thursday. He said two of Qatar’s 14 LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquids (GTL) facilities were damaged in the unprecedented strikes.