2023 Guyana Defence Force helicopter crash
[2] The helicopter carried senior GDF military officers, and was reportedly conducting "border operations".[1] The crash marked the deadliest incident in Guyana's recent military history since the Rupununi uprising in 1969.[4][better source needed] Under the command of Col. Michael Shahoud, Commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion, the helicopter was bound for a military outpost in Arau, situated on the Venezuelan border, to survey GDF defenses in the area, bolstered as a result of the December 2023 Venezuelan Esequiba referendum.Contact was lost at 11:20, approximately 30 miles east of Arau, near a hamlet of Ekereku, in a mountainous area with dense jungle.Five of the seven on board were found dead, with two survivors; Corporal Dwayne Jackson and Lieutenant Colonel Andio Michael Crawford (Special Forces Squadron).