Ethiopian pilots very likely to have landed at Eritrea-held Assab Port: source

WASHINGTON, DC - An Ethiopian pilot and two of his crew members defected to Eritrea flying an Mi-35 combat helicopter, the state television announced on Monday.

The pilots were based in the eastern city of Dire Dawa and they executed their plan during what the state-owned TV called a "routine flight training." The announcement came in after days of massive aerial search across northeastern Ethiopia.

The crew members were Captain Samuel Giday, Lt. Bililign Desalegn, and flight technician Tsegaberhan Giday. It was not known whether the pilot and technician are siblings.

The TV didn't specify where in Eritrea the pilot landed the helicopter, but an Ethiopian Air Force source cited the Port of Assab as the most likely place of landing the aircraft.

The $25 million Mi-35M helicopter integrates modern high-precision weaponry for destroying ground-based armoured targets and providing air support for ground missions, according to one source related to selling the Russian-made helicopter.

"It is a huge loss for the government," the source said, adding that "since Ethiopia and Eritrea have no diplomatic ties, Addis Ababa may seek the help of neighboring Sudan to retrieve the multi-purpose combat helicopter."

Earlier this year, eight Air Force men defected to Eritrea where they reportedly joined Ethiopian rebel groups.

Eritrea gets 2nd Mi-35 combat helicopter

It is the second time that Eritrea has acquired Mi-35 helicopter from Ethiopia.

"During the 1998-2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea War, an Ethiopian pilot landed his Mi-35 helicopter in an Eritrean territory, claiming that his copter was attacked and damaged. He was rescued but the helicopter was left there intact. The next day, the Eritreans sought the help of an Ethiopan pilot who was living in Asmara as a political asylee, and flew the helicopter to Asmara, signifying that it had no damage."

The Air Force source, who was speaking to Ethiomedia on condition of anonymity, said it was a mystery why the Ethiopian pilot chose to leave an important war machine in the hand of the enemy instead of destroying it.

First, he landed the helicopter in an enemy territory, though it was not damaged. Second, the rule of war dictates that war machines be destroyed lest the enemy makes use of them. They failed to do that. This makes it a mystery: either the pilots were not very well qualified to do the job, or else there was a conspiracy of passing an important war machine to the hand of the enemy.

The latter may sound far-fetched but it should be remembered that Ethiopia was in the hand of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, an ultra Eritrean nationalist mercenary who kept a low profile until he wiped out his Ethiopian critics and sabotaged the war victory over Eritrea.

Today Eritrea is a pariah state, with its citizens fleeing in every direction to escape the harsh rule of President Isaias Afewerki. But the Eritrean desert has also an oasis for Ethiopian Air Force men who desperately seek a refuge from the choking political repression at home.