"Alcohol found in crashed helicopter pilot's body"

"Alcohol found in crashed helicopter pilot's body"

BELGRADE -- The responsibility for the crash of a military helicopter in Belgrade last month was primarily with the members of its crew, it has been announced.

There are also "doubts that part of the responsibility lies with other military and civilian personnel," the Higher Public Prosecution said on Friday.

The crash of the military aircraft on March 13 killed all seven persons on board.

B92 has seen the prosecution's document that states investigators found alcohol in the samples of blood and urine take from the pilot, Omer Mehic.

The post mortem showed there were 0.68 milligrams per milliliter of alcohol in Mehic's blood, and 1.30 mg/ml in his urine.

Earlier in the day, the prosecution said that beside the responsibility of the four-member crew, "there is ground to suspect that part of the responsibility lies with a number of active members of the the Serbian Army, and there are also indications of the possible responsibility of a number of civilians."

The prosecution said these were "initial findings" and added they were obtained during the first phase of establishing the facts and circumstances under which the accident occurred, based on the analyses and opinions of a commission set up to examine the causes of the crash, and other documents related to the accident.

"The prosecution will conduct investigative actions against a number of persons in order to fully identify all relevant facts related to specific events," said a statement.

The data from the report should be made available to the public, and "both the Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Defense agree on this," it was said.