Jet’s passengers safe after mid-air collision with helicopter

The helicopter crashed near the capital Damascus, although it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties in that crash or what had led the two aircraft to touch in mid-air. No one on board the passenger jet was hurt, said state TV.

The Syrian government has increasingly been using helicopters and other aircraft in its fight against the rebels in its 18-month rebellion, turned civil war.

Rebels have claimed to have shot down helicopters and warplanes in the past, although the regime has blamed most of the problems on mechanical difficulties.

In Wednesday’s incident, the helicopter’s rotor clipped the tail of a Syrian Arab Airlines jet, the state TV said. The passenger 
plane “landed safely at the airport and none of the 200 passengers were harmed,” the report said.

The helicopter crashed south-east of Douma, a Damascus suburb that has witnessed repeated military crackdowns as government forces try to purge fighters seeking to topple President Bashar Assad.