On Thursday, August 12, a Mi-8 helicopter crashed in Kamchatka, on board of which, according to preliminary data, there were 16 people: 13 passengers, including one child, and three crew members.
The aircraft followed the route of the village of Nikolaevka - Lake Kurilskoye - Khodutka volcano, however, for unknown reasons, it fell into the lake and sank.
Employees of the FSBI "Kronotsky State Reserve" managed to pull eight people out of the water, the search and rescue operation at the site of the emergency continues.
According to the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Kamchatka Territory, in the morning (local time) the Crisis Management Center received information that the Mi-8 helicopter on a commercial flight did not go out to the scheduled communication session at the specified time.
"Around ten o'clock in the morning, according to the security personnel of the Kronotsky Reserve, in the area of the Ozerny cordon in the South Kamchatka Reserve, a helicopter with tourists fell during the landing approach to Kuril Lake," said Tatyana Gulbina, Deputy Director of the Kronotsky Reserve.
The press service of the regional government clarified that the staff of the reserve heard cotton on the water, and then promptly headed to the crash site.
Sources of the agency "Kamchatka-inform" in the operational services of the region reported that the incident occurred on board RA 24744 of the airline "Vityaz-Aero".
According to the district state inspector of the Kronotsky reserve Yevgeny Denges, the helicopter crashed near the Heart of Alaid island, located in Lake Kuril.
At the time of the incident, due to the established fog, visibility did not exceed 100 meters.
“We heard the noise of the helicopter, but did not see it.
Judging by the sound, he flew over the lake and began to turn towards the cordon.
Then there was a loud bang - the helicopter hit the water.
We immediately launched two boats and in three or four minutes reached the crash site, which we identified by the wave.
There were eight people on the surface of the water, who were immediately lifted aboard and taken to the cordon.
Two were seriously injured.
We began to provide first aid to the victims, to warm them up, ”the portal“ AiF-Kamchatka ”quotes him.
Video from Kuril Lake, where rescuers are searching for the wreckage of the Mi-8 helicopter
As a result of the search and rescue operation, eight people have been rescued to date, confirmed the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Special Programs of the region Alexander Zabolichenko.
According to him, two victims are in serious condition.
"An emergency delivery of victims to medical institutions of the regional capital has been organized," he added.
A representative of the Ministry of Health of the Kamchatka Territory told TASS that four of the rescued refused hospitalization.
“We have four people so far taken to the regional hospital, there is no threat to their lives.
Four more did not need medical assistance, only psychological.
They stayed on the lake for now - they refused to be admitted to the Ozernovskiy regional hospital, ”a ministry spokesman said.
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According to the Kamchatka-Inform agency's source, Vityaz-Aero guide Anastasia Ponomareva, navigator Yakov Medvedev, mechanic Marat Madiev, tourists Viktor Strelkin, Mikhail Malyakov, Georgy Kovantsev, Elena Antipina and Nikolai Korzhenevsky survived as a result of the plane crash - channel journalist "Russia 24".
According to the governor of the Kamchatka Territory, Vladimir Solodov, the wreckage of the helicopter is located at a distance of about 800 meters from the coast and at a depth of more than 130 meters (later the Ministry of Emergency Situations clarified that the sunken Mi-8 is located at a depth of 137 meters, about 700 meters from the coast).
According to the head of the region, the divers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations cannot work at such a depth.
In this regard, the authorities turned to the Ministry of Defense for assistance.
“The military has confirmed the direction of underwater robotic vehicles that can help in the search for debris and missing.
Robots will examine the bottom of the Kuril Lake in the area of the plane crash.
Search work continues.
Fifteen rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, including six divers, remained in place, and a field camp was set up.
Investigative authorities are currently establishing possible versions and circumstances of the incident, "- said Solodov.
On the air of the Russia 24 TV channel, he added that the helicopter that fell into the lake began to operate in 1984, but it regularly underwent technical inspection.
The next check of the Mi-8 was supposed to take place in 2022
“Regarding technology, all the rules of the Federal Air Transport Agency are certainly strictly observed, and the helicopters regularly undergo technical inspection ... The board was serviceable and allowed to fly,” Solodov specified.
Dmitry Chernykh, deputy director of the Vityaz Aero airline, told RT that the crashed helicopter underwent a major overhaul in 2020.
“The forecasts were flying.
Commander with a lot of flying, military pilot.
We do not doubt his competence yet, ”he said.
A source of the TASS agency in the operational services of the region said that immediately before departure, the aircraft also underwent an inspection, during which no technical malfunctions were identified.
“According to preliminary information, the flight itself took place normally.
The crew did not report any technical problems, ”he added.
As one of the survivors of the plane crash, Viktor Strelkin, said, there was poor visibility during the flight, and after hitting the water, the helicopter began to quickly fill with water.
“I was just sleeping, because there was no visibility, and I realized that something had happened when the water hit me in the face ... I unbuckled the belt and was lifted up immediately.
There was a small volume of air, I managed to inhale, and it immediately filled with water ... I was sitting in the front row, and the door to the cockpit was open, there was light ... I made two strokes.
The lantern - glass - was broken and began to rise.
According to my feelings, the depth was about 8-9 meters, ”said Strelkin.
“The water is cold, visibility is 20 meters from above, very low fog.
Those who surfaced cry for help ... If not for the people who stood on the shore.
In fact, two boats came up in five minutes.
We already thought that another five minutes, and people would start drowning - they could not stay on the water ... Thank God, we reacted very quickly, ”he added.
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On the fact of the helicopter crash, the authorities of the Eastern Interregional Investigation Department on Transport of the TFR opened a criminal case, on the grounds of a crime under Part 3 of Art.
263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of traffic safety rules and transport operation, resulting in the death of two or more persons by negligence).
"The investigation team went to the scene, the number of victims on board the aircraft is being specified, a complex of investigative and procedural actions is being carried out to establish the circumstances of the incident," the statement says.
Employees of the Kamchatka Transport Prosecutor's Office are also checking compliance with the legislation in the field of flight safety: "In case of violations, a set of response measures will be taken to eliminate them and bring the perpetrators to justice."
The prosecutor's office of the Kamchatka Territory organized an audit of the implementation of the legislation on the provision of tourist services.
A commission of the Interstate Aviation Committee has also begun to investigate the crash of the Mi-8 helicopter in the area of the Ozerny cordon of the Kuril Lake.
According to the Kamchatka-Inform agency, the Vityaz-Aero airline, whose helicopter fell into the Kuril Lake, has been operating in the region since 2009. The owners of the organization are a member of the Federation Council Valery Ponomarev and deputies of the legislative assembly of the Kamchatka Territory Igor Yevtushok and Igor Redkin, who a few days ago confessed to the murder of a local resident by negligence. He was placed under house arrest for two months pending the investigation of the case.