Tributes paid to Czech military sergeant who died in Egypt helicopter crash

One of the eight people who died after a helicopter crashed in Egypt has been identified as a Czech sergeant.

The Czech military posted on Twitter paying tribute to Michaela Tichá, with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO), Defense Minister Lubomir Metnar (ANO) and Chief-of-Staff Ales Opata expressing their condolences to her family.

The 27-year-old Czech soldier was a member of the task force of the Czech military in Sinai.

Babis tweeted:

There were nine peacekeepers aboard the helicopter, a UH-60 Black Hawk, and only one of them survived the crash.

The others who died included six American soldiers and one from France.

The Multinational Force and Observers, an international peacekeeping organization, working with Egypt and Israel, said the incident occurred during a routine mission and that a “full investigation of the cause of the crash, which appears to be mechanical in nature, has been launched.”

Lower house defense committee head Jana Cernochova (ODS) said she was deeply touched by the death of Ticha:

"It is a tragic event that is unexpected and cruel. Thank you for your service, we will never forget!"

A Czech military aircraft will bring the body of Ticha to Prague on Friday.

An event commemorating her will be held after its landing at the Prague-Kbely military airport, Defense Ministry spokesman Jan Pejsek told CTK.

Political figures from across the globe have paid tribute to all of those who died in the helicopter crash including from President-elect Joe Biden.

Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek (CSSD) connected Ticha's death with the celebration of the Veterans Day on Wednesday.  "We thanked our soldiers for what they do for our country and our freedom," he said.

Ticha is the first Czech woman to die during deployment in a foreign military mission.