Five people, including deputy director of JSC “VTB Leasing” Alexander Kuzmenko, missing and apparently died in the crash of a helicopter MI- 8T airline “East” in the Sea of Okhotsk. The company, headed by the general director of “VTB Leasing” Andrew Konoplev, taking leave, went to the extreme tour on the island Shantarsky (Khabarovsk Territory). However, old helicopter, chartered by the organizers trip crashed near the shore. As a result, the ultimate goal of the route the tourists had to get to swim in the icy water.
August 15 at 17:20 local time (10:20 Moscow time) Mi-8T JSC “Airline” East “,” rented the famous traveler The organizer of the extreme stages in the Khabarovsk Territory Igor Ol’khovskii his companion and partner in the company “Fishing expeditions” Maxim Zotov guest from Moscow, flew from the village of Polina Osipenko Bay Ongachan. There you can watch the pristine nature of whales that resemble close to the shore, and wild animals. In addition, the adjacent islands are fishing spot.
The last session of the helicopter crew commander Sergei Nikolaev Oshlakova a control point held at 16:17 local time; the crew reported that going to land in the bay Ongachan about an hour. However, at 17:20, when radio contact was planned for the new crew to communicate with dispatchers did not come out.
Some time later, the pilot reported Oshlakov to the mainland by satellite phone that was an accident: 16 people (3 crew members and 13 passengers) were saved 11. Five more missing.
According to the crew during the flight when the helicopter area of the bay was less than a kilometer, refused engine Mi-8. The machine start to decline sharply, and the commander decided that the ground they can not reach, ordered the crew members and passengers to parachute into the water. Note that the Mi-8T has two engines – if one of them the other should automatically go to the high power mode, hold the machine in horizontal flight. Duplicated and other critical components and assemblies of the helicopter, including generators. However, Mi-8 RA-22559, being flown was a pretty old car. Kazan aircraft factory built it back in September 1979. Initially, the Mi-8 operated by local unit of “Aeroflot”, then – UTair, and since 2011 – the airline “East”. At the time of emergency helicopter was in operation for more than 36 years, which is critical for the machine in this series. Therefore, experts say, it was a systems failure is quite likely.
Before the helicopter crashed into the water, the majority of people are in it, according to the crew managed to leave it. Swimming to the shore they had to overcome from 70 to 150 m. It should be noted here that the water temperature in the bay does not exceed 5-7 degrees. Before the land was able to get all three members of the crew, the organizers of the tour, the general director of “VTB Leasing” Andrew Konoplev, his two deputies, Anatoly Fomenko Voronetsky and Hope, as well as three other passengers.
Five members trip – Deputy General Director of JSC “VTB Leasing” Alexander Kuzmenko, an employee of the same company Vladislav Gogol, and Stanislav Khachaturian, Irina and Dmitry Baryshnikov Krukovskiy missing.
Having spent part of the evening on the beach, the tourists went to the base of “fishing expedition”, to which there were several tens of kilometers. From there they went out a few more times to communicate with dispatchers and rescuers, but Mi-8 helicopter of the same airline, “the East” because of bad weather could pick only the victims on Sunday. To do this they had to return to base to the crash – the helicopter, as it turned out, it sank in 70 meters from the shore, and the water was visible part of its fuselage.
According to the State Emergency Situations Ministry in the Khabarovsk region, at 21:00 local time (14:00 Moscow time) the helicopter landed at the small airport of Khabarovsk. “In the city helicopter transported seven passengers. They are all in good condition. Two of them were taken to hospital, the other sent to the hotel,” – reported in the State Ministry of Emergency Situations.
At the crash site were members of the crew and Igor Olkhovskiy who will give evidence to investigators Investigation Department TFR Far Eastern transport, has opened a criminal case under Art. 263 Criminal Code (violation of safety rules and operation of air transport), and also to help to rescuers and divers are now planning to examine the crashed helicopter.
The airlines “East” to comment on the state of emergency yesterday abstained. Representatives of the investigation reported that the seized samples of the fuel, which refueled before the flight of the Mi-8, as well as flight documentation. Causes of disaster experts install the Interstate Aviation Committee, which has already begun technical investigation of the incident. VTB “Kommersant” reported that members of the group are in contact with emergency services and law enforcement agencies.
According to “Kommersant”, in extreme tour executives “VTB Leasing” went on a vacation, paying for their own travel. They earlier visited remote places of Russia.
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