28 August 2014 - The United Nations was treating the recent helicopter crash near the Unity State capital Bentiu, which left three Russian crew members dead, as the result of a hostile attack, the acting UNMISS Chief said in Juba today.

“Helicopters fly. They don’t fall out of the sky,” said Toby Lanzer at a media briefing. “For investigative purposes, we are treating this as a hostile act against the United Nations.”

The sole survivor from the crash and the remains of the three crew members had arrived in Juba and a memorial service would be held soon, he said.

He added that the mission was now in possession of the black box, voice recorder and control panel from the crashed helicopter and that the investigations had started.

Noting that the helicopter came down in a contested area where both parties to the conflict have been seen, Mr. Lanzer said he hoped that the investigation would shed more light.

“We will have a clearer idea of what happened and if there is responsibility that goes one way or another, a very important element will be, ‘then what?’” he said.

The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General reminded journalists about another UN helicopter which was shot down in Likuangole, Jonglei State in December 2012 and left four Russian crew members dead.

“During the investigation, it became clear who was responsible,” he said. “The responsible party recognized its responsibility and yet no measures were taken. Impunity prevailed. That’s something that needs to be avoided.”

Mr. Lanzer, who is also the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, said the crash on 26 August had an immediate impact on all peacekeeping and humanitarian operations as the UN had grounded all flights to the Unity State capital.

He noted that air travel is, at the moment, the only means of transport in and out of Bentiu, where about 47,000 people are living in dire conditions at the protection-of-civilians site on the UNMISS base.

“The scale of need in Bentiu is so high that we need to start flying (there) as soon as possible,” he said. “But at the end of the day, the safety of our personnel (and) equipment comes first.”

In a statement issued yesterday, the UN Security Council said the attack constituted a grave violation of the Status of Forces Agreement and jeopardized UNMISS operations.

Urging UNMISS and the South Sudanese Government to conduct “a swift, thorough and transparent investigation of this attack,” Council members emphasized that those responsible for the attack must be held accountable and all necessary measures to avoid such attacks in the future must be taken.