Russian Defense Ministry grounds Mi-8 helicopters after deadly crash

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Russian Defense Ministry has grounded its Mi-8 helicopters after one of them crashed in the Volga area at noon on Tuesday, May 28, according to RIA Novosti.

A Mi-8T helicopter, owned by the Syzran branch of the Gagarin Air Force Academy’s training center, crashed while performing a scheduled training flight near the village of Ivanovskoye in the Saratov Region.

The aircraft’s pilot in command and his trainee used parachutes to evacuate before the helicopter crashed. They received minor injuries and are now under medical supervision. Their condition is not life-threatening. The third crew member - a flight engineer – died, unable to leave the cockpit.

Only the Defense Ministry’s helicopters will be grounded. The move will not affect similar aircraft, used by the presidential administration’s Rossiya special-purpose air unit to transport Russia’s top state officials, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

A defense ministry commission is now working at the site of the crash. The helicopter’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have already been recovered. Russian investigators have launched a criminal investigation into suspected violation of aviation rules.

This is the fifth accident involving a Mi-8 helicopter in Russia this year.