Cuban Air Force Mi-17 crash

At least two of bodyguards of Raul Castro were killed when a Mil Mi-17 helicopter of the Defensa Anti-Aérea y Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria (DAAFAR, Cuban Air Force) crashed in Eastern Cuba. The helicopter came down from a height of ten meters, taking the lives of its pilots, a mechanic and the former president’s bodyguards.

The accident happened around 05:00 hrs LT in the VIP-area of Santiago de Cuba airport, where the helicopter arrived as part of a military convoy, in support of a visit of Raul Castro to the town of Santiago de Cuba for the occasion of the burial of 19 combatants of the so called third Eastern Front in the revolution that brought the Castro’s to power in the late 50s. The burial ceremony took place on 10 April 2024.

The helicopter, with serial 115, delivered in 1983, was probably operated by a detachment at Holguin, which is part of Unidad Militar 3710. It was totally destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire, the cause of which is as yet unknown and under investigation.

Credit photo: Scramble Archive