On January 28, 1992 the Azerbaijani

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

 transport helicopter Mil Mi-8

Mil Mi-8

The Mil Mi-8 is a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter that can also act as a gunship. The Mi-8 is the world's most-produced helicopter, and is used by over 50 countries. Russia is the largest operator of the Mi-8/Mi-17 helicopter....

 was reportedly shot down by a heat-seeking missile near the Azerbaijani town of Shusha

Shusha

Shusha , also known as Shushi is a town in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus. It has been under the control of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic since its capture in 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War...

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The 1993 report by U.S. Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

 on aviation security called it the most significant incident in Central Eurasia

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

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Background

Serious air warfare during the Nagorno-Karabakh War broke out in January 1992. The Azeri aircraft became facile targets for Armenian armed forces. On January 9, the Armenians claimed the first downed Azeri helicopter and more claims followed on January 24, 28 and 31 — all of them over Nagorny Karabakh, the last being a Mi-8 downed from MANPADs over the village of Huha. On January 31, the Azeris claimed the downings of two Mi-8s that supported the first Armenian offensive.

The shootdown

The helicopter with civilians on board departed from the town of Agdam to Shusha, which was blockaded by Armenians, and was downed en route by the surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

. All 44 persons on board have been killed, mostly children and women. According to Azeri journalist Kerim Kerimli, who assisted in collecting the bodies at the site and confirmed the number of fatalities, the missile was launched from Stepanakert

Stepanakert

Stepanakert is the largest city and capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a de facto independent republic, though is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan...

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