Aerospatiale Alouette II crash near Ivato Airport, Analamanga, Madagascar

The army helicopter was returning from a mission in response to a kidnapping in the Tsaratanana area, carrying the commanders of the Betsiboka gendarmerie group and the Tsaratanana company, the head of the region north west of the capital, and an assistant. The pilot lost control and the aircraft was destroyed. Four occupants jumped clear before it struck the ground and the pilot, who stayed with it, was the most badly hurt. Five were injured in all, among them two army pilots, two gendarmes and a civilian. Reports suggested the weather over the high plateaus may have played a part, but no cause was established. Accounts also disagree on where it came down: the aggregator and most reporting say Ivato Airport, while a brigadier general quoted at the time said Anadabo. The type is recorded only as an Alouette II, with no sub-variant given.