Mil Mi-8S crash near Malé, Kaafu Atoll, Maldives

The helicopter was taking off from Malé for Guraidhoo with twenty-four on board when, at a height of about 50 metres, it lost main hydraulic pressure, and it was destroyed. Nobody was killed. The investigation found that the primary hydraulic system had not been selected before takeoff and that the secondary was then switched off inadvertently in flight, so the loss of pressure followed from how the system had been set rather than from a fault in it. Injuries were not reported.