10 people died as a result of a helicopter crash in the Krasnoyarsk Territory

Yesterday in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, for an unknown reason, a Turukhan airline Mi-8 helicopter, transporting oil workers to the Vankor field, crashed. According to preliminary data, 10 of the 25 people on board were killed, including all three crew members. There could have been more casualties if the ice of the Yenisei had not supported the car that fell on its side.

According to the Krasnoyarsk main department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the helicopter crash occurred yesterday at 11:45 local time in the Turukhansky district, 10 km from the village of Igarka. The aircraft, operated by the Krasnoyarsk airline Turukhan, was heading from Igarka to the oil pumping station of the Vankor field. The helicopter took off from Igarka at 10:57, contact with it was lost at approximately 11:10. According to the West Siberian Transport Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the crashed Mi-8 was discovered from the air on the ice of the Yenisei by another helicopter, the crew of which informed the rescue services about the location of the accident.

Rosneft reported that employees of Vankorneft (a subsidiary of Rosneft that leased the Mi-8) were flying on this flight on duty. Among the passengers was also an employee of one of the local medical institutions.

In total, there were 25 people on board the helicopter that crashed. Of these, according to the West Siberian Transport Prosecutor's Office, three were crew members and 22 passengers. According to the latest information, 10 people were killed, including the entire flight crew. The survivors were taken to the Igar hospital with injuries of varying severity. Many of them are in the intensive care unit. The lists of victims and dead are still being clarified.

Based on the fact of the accident, the Krasnoyarsk investigative department for transport opened a criminal case under Part 3 of Art. 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of traffic safety rules and operation of air transport, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence”). “Investigative actions are currently being carried out to establish all the circumstances of the incident,” the department reported. Yesterday, investigators seized Turukhan’s documents.

The investigation has not yet spoken about the possible causes of the accident. According to Kommersant, versions of equipment failure and pilot error are being considered. The cause of the crash could have been bad weather conditions: yesterday there was heavy snowfall in Igarka. The Interstate Aviation Committee formed a commission to investigate the incident.

Turukhan Airlines was founded in March 2001 on the basis of the State Unitary Enterprise Turukhansk Aviation Enterprise, and in 2011 it became part of the UTair group. Operates 16 Mi-8T helicopters. Turukhan is a key carrier of shift workers to the oil fields of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Yesterday the reception company's phones were not answered.

The crashed helicopter and its passengers were insured by the SOGAZ insurance company. “The policy provides for payment of up to 2 million rubles. people killed and injured as a result of the accident,” said a representative of the insurer. In turn, a representative of Rosneft said that “the company will provide all necessary assistance, including financial, to the families of the dead and injured.”

This is not the first time that the area around Igarka has become the site of a plane crash. As Kommersant reported, in 2010, a KatekAvia An-24 plane crashed here after it got caught in the trees. Then 12 people died.

By order of Governor Viktor Tolokonsky, November 27 was declared a day of mourning in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Dmitry Malkov, Krasnoyarsk

The flight went sideways