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PARACHUTE FAILED DURING AIRBORNE TROOPS EXERCISE

RIA Novosti

ZHITOVO (Ryazan region), March 24 (RIA Novosti, Alevtina Shchepetina). According to a RIA Novosti correspondent, the parachute of one of deployable vehicles failed to open as heavy combat vehicles were dropped from an aircraft during a command post exercise of the Russian Airborne Troops.

"An emergency occurred as the first airborne combat vehicle was being dropped: the main parachute failed to open," Nikolai Bragin, press service chief of the Airborne Troops, told RIA Novosti, "The vehicle was unmanned, there are no casualties," he added.

Twelve combat vehicles (ten BMD-2 airborne infantry fighting vehicles with PRSM-915 parachutes and two BTR armored personnel carriers) were dropped from aircraft as part of the exercise in the 106th Airborne Division.

In comment on the emergency, Georgy Shpak, the Ryazan region governor who was in charge of the Airborne Troops in 1997 through 2003, named "some blunder" as the cause behind the emergency.

"We did not have such cases during the seven years that I was in charge of the Airborne Troops. The vehicle was destroyed; fortunately enough, there are no casualties. Some blunder must be the cause of what happened," Shpak said. He added that the exercise would hardly be assessed as excellent after the parachute failure.