Overview

• During a routine low-altitude training flight on July 29, an EC-135 helicopter from Holzdorf’s Hubschraubergeschwader 64 plunged into the Mulde River, with wreckage spotted by paddlers around 11:30 a.m.
• Rescuers recovered two crew members dead on the evening of July 29; more than 200 personnel—including police and Bundeswehr divers, rescue helicopters and a Eurofighter with reconnaissance sensors—are continuing the search for the third airman.
• Authorities have established a military security perimeter and a two-nautical-mile flight-prohibition zone around the crash site to safeguard ongoing operations.
• Investigators from the Bundeswehr’s General Flugsicherheit have launched a formal inquiry into the circumstances of the low-altitude accident.
• Environmental teams have deployed oil-containment booms and recovered leaked kerosene to prevent further pollution of the Mulde River.