Missing Russian Mi-8 helicopter found crashed in Far East, all 5 onboard dead
A Russian Mi-8 helicopter that went missing two days earlier in the country's Far East has been found crashed with signs of fire damage in Khabarovsk Krai, the Russian state media reported on July 16.
All five people on board have been found dead, the Russian Investigative Committee on Transport reported.
The aircraft, operated by the airline Vzlyot, disappeared on July 14 during a flight from the remote settlement of Okhotsk to the city of Magadan, almost 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) east of Moscow, according to the state news agency TASS.
The helicopter was carrying three crew members and two technicians and was returning to Magadan after undergoing maintenance.
Search teams located the wreckage on July 16 near Cape Gadikan. Officials said the crash site showed evidence of a fire.
Russia's transport prosecutor's office has launched an inspection of the helicopter's operator following the discovery of the wreckage.
The aircraft's disappearance triggered a two-day search involving an additional Mi-8 helicopter from Okhotsk and an An-26 aircraft from Magadan.
The Mi-8 is a Soviet-designed multipurpose helicopter widely used in Russia for military, civilian, and rescue operations. While it has a longstanding service record, the model has also been involved in a series of fatal accidents. In May, another Mi-8 crashed in Oryol Oblast, killing the crew.
