Syrian Helicopter explodes mid-air over Idlib

[None of the above]

Amateur video purports to show a Syrian military helicopter exploding over the city of Idlib after being shot down by rebels.

http://www.aol.co.uk/video/syrian-helicopter-blown-up-in-midair/517509977/

[Taun]

A good friend of mine who was a helicopter pilot once told me, as he was getting ready to take off with me inside:

"A lot of things can happen when you take off in one of these... Only one of them is good."

Edited October 18, 2012 by Taun

[Mr.United_Nations]

Wow! never seen anything quite like that before. Isn't their 3rd aircraft they shot down this week?

[FLOMBIE]

I feel sorry for the dead.

[+and-then]

It looked to be on it's way down when it went boom. The pilot had a little time to think about it and I'm thinking he didn't find any answers he was pleased with. Dropping explosives on unarmed people can be a dangerous business.

[Ashotep]

Revolution or war is not pretty. Things get destroyed and people die, even the innocent ones.

[None of the above]

It's a hell of an explosion. Looks like more than the fuel tank going up. It's completely destroyed, you can see the rotor hub with one rotor blade still attached is one of the bigger chucks.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Atlantia

[Just Dave]

Because of the damn religion and politics,,,, there is blood and agony... I hope something really happens on 21 or 25 i don't know exactly too many doomsday dates, and takes out a large portion of us all... that is the only way that things will get better in so many ways...

[Mr.United_Nations]

Because of the damn religion and politics,,,, there is blood and agony... I hope something really happens on 21 or 25 i don't know exactly too many doomsday dates, and takes out a large portion of us all... that is the only way that things will get better in so many ways...

got nothing to do with religion

[Just Dave]

got nothing to do with religion

Maybe not in Syiria, but ME has got everything to do with religion...

[questionmark]

got nothing to do with religion

Not yet. That part will be settled as soon as they got rid of the dictatorship.

[Uncle Sam]

From what I seen so far, the fighting is not heavy as you think it is. Not like traditional war where it is hold till you receive backup, it is guerilla warfare that involves scrimmages from all angles. Sadly I also notice lots of elements of extremist mixed in with genuine rebels, these extremist have alternative goal in mind when it comes to Syria. If they can control Syria, Libya, and other Arab Springs nations, they will be able to try to claim it these nations under their banner and use them as staging grounds against Western nations that have been bogged down in Afghanistan. The genuine rebels are spread out and few when compared to the extremist in their mist.

They have no choice to work along the extremist due to lag of ammunition and weapons which can help bring the battle to a stalemate or allow for final push against Syria's army. We are looking at worst case scenario at the moment for Syria. Either stay out and not help the Rebels, risk extremists getting their hands on biochemical weapons with a staging ground, help rebels and eliminate the extremist element while risking Syria launching biochemical weapons against us, or help Syria eliminate the rebels and extremists putting end to the war altogether. The easiest option would be to help Syria, but it would be on very low moral grounds while the hardest would to help the rebels, eliminate extremists elements, and finish off Syria.

Either way, how the war ends, it isn't going to be a pretty sight and stability will be limping along in the name of surviving.

[MichaelW]

It's a hell of an explosion. Looks like more than the fuel tank going up. It's completely destroyed, you can see the rotor hub with one rotor blade still attached is one of the bigger chucks.

Probably also managed to hit something else on there like rocket pods or something.