A number of politicians sent their condolences to the families of skydivers and crew members who died in the air crash on Thursday. At the same time, politicians voiced their hope that such an incident won't happen again. 7 people died in the mid-air collision of two aircraft carrying skydivers near Ilava (west Slovakia). "When I woke up from the anaesthesia, I couldn't believe that another aircraft accident had occurred in Slovakia", said President Andrej Kiska, who underwent a hip operation at a hospital in Pilsen in the Czech Republic on Thursday morning. May they rest in peace, President Andrej Kiska wrote on his Facebook page. Prime Minister Robert Fico extended his sympathy to the families of seven people who were killed in the collision near the village of Červený Kamen. At the same time, he acknowledged the work and professionalism of rescue units called to the scene of the accident. "Shortly after take-off and the first aerial manoeuvre, an as-yet unexplained collision occurred, after which they subsequently began to drop from the sky", Interior Minister Róbert Kaliňák said in describing the course of the event. According to him, the collision caused a 'detachment of some parts of the airplanes', so the planes were incapable of further flight.
One of the two L410 aircraft that collided at Červený Kamen (west Slovakia) on Thursday around 9.30 a.m. crashed only a few dozen metres away from a school and houses. There were two pilots and 17 skydivers on board each plane. Out of 38 people on the planes, four pilots and three skydivers died. Four people were killed on board a rescuer helicopter in the Slovenský Raj (Slovak Paradise) national park on July 17. Eleven days later, a soldier was killed when a military helicopter crashed in eastern Slovakia.
