The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations announced the discovery of the crash site of the Mi-8 helicopter on Lake Onega. As the department clarified, rescuers on snowmobiles and hovercraft examined the water area near the village of Derevyannoye.
“The wreckage of the helicopter was found 11 km from the coast at a depth of up to 50 m,” the report says.
A headquarters and commission have been formed to investigate the circumstances of the incident. More than 140 specialists and 33 pieces of equipment are involved in the work at the helicopter crash site, as well as divers from the Leader Special Risk Rescue Operations Center of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations with a diving allowance of up to 60 m.
It is also specified that underwater work will be carried out using the Falcon remote-controlled underwater vehicle, capable of diving to a depth of 300 m.
Also on russian.rt.com Source RT: divers will soon begin searching for bodies from a helicopter that fell into Lake Onega
The Ministry of Emergency Situations also noted that the crashed vehicle was driven by an experienced crew with thousands of flight hours. “During their work at the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, specialists were repeatedly involved in the search and rescue of people,” the department said.
The Western Interregional Transport Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee announced the initiation of a criminal case for violation of traffic safety rules and operation of air transport (Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
As follows from the message from the Investigative Committee's management, the helicopter was performing a training flight over Lake Onega when the crew stopped communicating.
The head of Karelia, Artur Parfenchikov, also noted that the helicopter was making a training flight along the route Peski Airport - Vytegra Airport.
“The helicopter did not arrive at its destination at the appointed time. A group of Karelian rescuers was immediately sent to search,” he wrote on Telegram.
As Parfenchikov clarified, all crew members of the crashed car are employees of the aviation center of St. Petersburg.
Meanwhile, the acting governor of the Vologda region, Georgy Filimonov, said that the regional government is ready to provide assistance in conducting search operations, as well as any other assistance that may be required in connection with the crash of the Mi-8 in Karelia.
According to him, the crew last made contact on February 4 at 17:04 Moscow time. Filimonov believes that the plane allegedly attempted an emergency landing.
An RT source reported that among the main reasons for the emergency with a helicopter in Karelia, technical malfunction, crew error and weather conditions are considered. According to the source, the main reason was probably bad weather.
Earlier in January, in the Bryansk region, a Mi-8 helicopter made an emergency landing on the M-3 highway near the Sevsky district, as a result of which a power line was broken. As the governor of the region, Alexander Bogomaz, clarified then, no one was injured as a result of these events.
The Russian Ministry of Defense subsequently clarified that the reason for the forced landing of the Mi-8 in the Bryansk region could have been a technical malfunction.
In addition, in December, a Mi-2 helicopter made a hard landing in Yakutia. As the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations clarified, when taking off from the point, the car began to lose altitude. There were five people on board.
As a result of these events, three people were hospitalized with moderate injuries, and two more victims refused medical care.