Syrian Arab Airlines Flight 501

Syrian Arab Airlines Flight 501 was a scheduled passenger flight of an Airbus A320-232, registration YK-AFK, from Damascus Airport to Latakia Airport in Syria. On 20 September 2012, during the climb after takeoff from Damascus, it was struck by the rotor of a Mil Mi-17 helicopter of the Syrian Air Force, and cut off half of the vertical section of the tail. The plane managed to return to Damascus airport, where it landed without further incident. However, the helicopter crashed, killing the four crew members.
Aircraft
The aircraft was a civil twin-engine jet Airbus A320-232,<ref name="ASN"/> operated by Syria's flag carrier, Syrian Arab Airlines,<ref name"ASN"/> under the registration YK-AKF.<ref name"ASN"/><ref name=BBC/>
It was produced by the European aircraft plant "Airbus" in the European Union as the Airbus A320 and was in service since 1999, that is, for twelve years and eleven months.<ref name="ASN"/>
The military helicopter involved was a Mil Mi-17, although some sources also reported a Mil Mi-8. The Mil Mi-17 is a subtype of the Mil Mi-8. Four members of the Syrian Air Force were traveling on board the helicopter. The helicopter's registration number was not released.
Passengers and crew
The plane was carrying about one hundred and eighty passengers and about twenty crew members from Damascus to the town of Latakia in the north of the country, within Syria,<ref name"ASN"/> on a regular passenger flight.<ref name"ASN"/><ref name=BBC/>
The four helicopter crew died in the accident, leaving the two hundred occupants of the plane unharmed.<ref nameASN/><ref nameBBC/>
Accident
The Airbus A320-232 was in the climb phase from Damascus Airport on a scheduled passenger flight to Latakia, Syria.<ref nameASN/> During this ascent phase, a military helicopter, returning from a mission to attack rebel troops, impacted one of its main rotors on the vertical drift of the commercial aircraft, splitting it in half. The commercial plane managed to make an emergency landing at Damascus airport without any major incidents. The military helicopter crashed in the Douma area, killing four crew members on the ground.<ref nameBBC/><ref name=ASN/>

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