Black boxes off to Moscow as Russia probes deadly crash
Eighteen people were killed after helicopter knocked into the cargo of adjacent aircraft
Eighteen people were killed in a helicopter crash in the Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia yesterday, the aviation watchdog and emergency services Rosaviatsia said.
The passengers, workers heading to their shift at an oilpumping station, and three crew members died when the Russian-made Mi-8 aircraft knocked into the cargo of an adjacent helicopter as both were completing take-off, Rosaviatsia said.
The incident occurred in the Vankor Field area in eastern Siberia, the watchdog said, at around 0200 GMT. Vankor is the region’s largest oilfield, operated by Russian oil company Rosneft.
“A Mi-8 helicopter which was carrying external suspended cargo and no passengers completed take-off first. Second to take off was a Mi-8 helicopter carrying passengers,” the federal air transport agency said. “After take-off, according to early reports, the Mi-8 carrying passengers knocked into the external cargo of the other helicopter, for reasons unknown. As a result it fell, broke apart and caught fire,” the watchdog said, adding weather conditions were normal.
The helicopters’ black boxes have been recovered, appear undamaged and will be sent to Moscow as part of the investigation, TASS news agency said, citing law enforcement agencies. The other helicopter landed safely after the incident. The two aircraft were owned by UTair-Helicopter Services, a unit of Russian airline UTair.