INA - BAGHDAD
The Ministry of Defense denied on Monday that an army aircraft had crashed, confirming that the incident was a minor technical issue during a training flight.
"Some social media sites and media outlets circulated news and a photo showing the crash of an aircraft belonging to the Army Aviation Command. In this regard, we would like to clarify that this news is inaccurate and baseless," said a statement from the Ministry, received by the Iraqi News Agency - INA.
The Ministry confirmed that "what happened was a minor technical issue that occurred during a training flight for students of the Army Aviation College. There were no injuries or serious damage, and the issue was limited to minor damage to the landing gear and skid plates, which was dealt with according to established technical procedures."
“The circulated photo is not from the aforementioned incident, but rather an old photo of an aircraft belonging to the Army Aviation Command that sustained damage during liberation operations against terrorist groups in previous years," the statement included.
The Defense Ministry called on “media outlets and social media users to be accurate in conveying information, to rely on information from official sources, and not to circulate undocumented news because it misleads public opinion.”
