The Ministry of Emergency Situations helicopter crashed, killing 8 people. Experts explained the strangeness of the Emergencies Ministry helicopter crash: a night flight near skyscrapers. Fire after the fall
MOSCOW, September 22 – RIA Novosti. An Mi-8 helicopter belonging to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations crashed on Wednesday evening near the town of Lytkarino near Moscow, killing three crew members. Military investigators have opened a criminal case into the helicopter crash under the article “Violation of flight rules or preparation for them,” a law enforcement source told RIA Novosti on Thursday. Meanwhile, as another source said, the Scientific Research Center for the Operation and Repair of Aviation Equipment in Lyubertsy should already have “black boxes” that will shed light on the causes of the disaster.
The crew did not survive
Late on Wednesday evening, information appeared in the media that a Mi-8 helicopter from the Ministry of Emergency Situations crashed in the area of Lytkarino near Moscow. A source later told RIA Novosti that three crew members died in the accident. The helicopter itself was completely destroyed and burned. The press service of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed information about the crash 20 minutes after the first reports of the tragedy.
“During a training flight to develop rescue technology in particularly difficult conditions in the Lyubertsy region, a Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations crashed,” the press service reported.
About 40 minutes later, another agency, the Investigative Committee, confirmed the tragedy. His press service reported that investigators arrived at the scene and began an investigation. The press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed to RIA Novosti that people died during the crash: the bodies of three crew members were found on the spot.
“Additional rescue forces arrived at the scene of the disaster - 50 specialists from the Leader Center and 50 employees of the Centrospas detachment of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations to conduct a search operation,” the press service added.
Rescuers completed search and rescue operations and collection of debris at the site of the helicopter crash only on Thursday morning. In total, about 400 people and about 75 pieces of equipment were involved in eliminating the consequences of the disaster.
Main versions of the crash
In the first hours after the disaster, a RIA Novosti source reported that when clearing the rubble after extinguishing the fire at the crash site of the Mi-8, both “black boxes” were found - the flight voice recorder and the device for recording flight parameters. The press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations later stated that the found recorders would be handed over to specialists of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC).
On Thursday, a source told RIA Novosti that both “black boxes” - the flight voice recorder and the flight parameters recording device - are being stored at the Ministry of Emergency Situations unit in Zhukovsky. Even later, the agency’s interlocutor clarified that the recorders were handed over to military investigators as part of the investigation into the disaster. Their condition is good.
“The work of deciphering the recorders will probably be carried out by employees of the former 13th State Research Institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense - now the Scientific Research Center for the Operation and Repair of Aviation Equipment in Lyubertsy (SRC ERAT),” the agency’s interlocutor said.
Investigators have not yet officially announced the preliminary reasons for the helicopter crash. However, a source in the region's emergency services told the agency almost immediately after the incident that it was a pilot error and equipment failure.
“Two main reasons for the Mi-8 crash are considered: crew piloting error and equipment failure,” the agency’s interlocutor said.
On Thursday afternoon, a RIA Novosti source reported that military investigators had opened a criminal case into the helicopter crash under Article 351 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of flight rules or preparation for them).
The pilots showed courage
The Mi-8 helicopter that crashed in the Moscow region was flown by an experienced crewOn board were the crew commander, 38-year-old Roman Frolov, the co-pilot, 42-year-old Dmitry Arsentyev, and the flight engineer, 32-year-old Maxim Filippov. They repeatedly took part in difficult rescue operations, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said.Less than an hour after the first reports of a helicopter crash, a source in the region’s emergency services reported that the head of the Zhukovsky Aviation Rescue Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Roman Frolov, was on board the Mi-8. At the same time, the interlocutor noted that it was he who was at the helm of the helicopter.
“On board the helicopter were the crew commander, the head of the Zhukovsky Aviation Rescue Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, 38-year-old Roman Frolov, the co-pilot, his deputy, 42-year-old Dmitry Arsentyev, and flight engineer 32-year-old Maxim Filippov. All of them repeatedly took part in difficult rescue operations ", the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported.
Roman Frolov at different times was the commander of the Mi-26 heavy helicopter. While serving in the Vladimir aviation squad of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in 2010, he extinguished forest fires in the Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir and Moscow regions on a Mi-26 helicopter. “It protected hundreds of residential buildings and thousands of people from fire,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations said. For high professionalism, courage and bravery, he was awarded the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree.
Frolov's deputy Dmitry Arsentyev has been in the Ministry of Emergency Situations since 1994. Since that time he has been at the helm of the Mi-8. Arsentyev was one of the first to extinguish fires using a Mi-8 helicopter equipped with a spillway device. He also participated in rescue operations in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan, as well as in the flooded Lensk in 2001. Arsentyev evacuated the victims, delivered humanitarian aid, and transported rescuers.
On Thursday, the head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Vladimir Puchkov, honored the memory of the Mi-8 pilots with a minute of silence. The minister noted that the crew “showed high professionalism and courage - they took the falling car away from populated areas.”
Soon, the press service of the insurer SOGAZ reported that the crew members of the crashed helicopter were insured for 2.337 million rubles each under a contract between the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations and the company.
"There is a state contract between the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia and the SOGAZ insurance group for compulsory state insurance of life and health of military personnel and persons equivalent to them, citizens called up for military training. The amount of the insured amount in the event of the death of the insured is 2.337 million rubles. Insurance is provided in accordance with with the law," the press service said.
Read more about the technical characteristics of the Mi-8 helicopter
Rescuers continue to work at the site of the crash of the Mi-8 helicopter of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation. According to the latest data, the fire that broke out after the fall was extinguished. RBC also reports the discovery of the flight recorders of the crashed aircraft. The “black boxes” will be transferred to the MAK for further decryption.
According to the REN-TV channel, the helicopter crashed a kilometer from a dense residential area. The Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that the crew tried until the last minute to move the falling aircraft away from residential buildings. Local residents note that they did not hear an explosion when the helicopter crashed, since it fell far enough from the houses.
The press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations said that the crashed Mi-8 was controlled by an experienced crew. On board were the head of the Zhukovsky aviation rescue center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Roman Frolov, the co-pilot, his deputy Dmitry Arsentyev and flight engineer Maxim Filippov. All pilots had experience in participating in difficult rescue operations, RIA Novosti clarifies.
Video recordings taken at the scene of the accident were also published. Emergency Situations Ministry specialists removed from the air the wreckage of a helicopter that fell in a forest thicket. Please note that special equipment cannot reach the accident site, so the forest around it is being cut down.
There is no official version of the crash yet. According to various sources, the helicopter could have crashed due to a technical problem or bad weather conditions.
“We had night training sessions every Wednesday.”
In Zhukovsky near Moscow, after the tragedy with the Mi-8 helicopter, which crashed on the evening of September 21, during training flights, mourning was declared. : Head of the Zhukovsky Aviation Rescue Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, 38-year-old Roman Frolov, co-pilot, his deputy, 42-year-old Dmitry Arsentyev, and flight engineer, 32-year-old Maxim Filippov.
“MK” tried to understand the situation: why the most experienced crew crashed and whether the plane crash could have been avoided.
Let us remind you that the Mi-8 of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations crashed in the Lyubertsy region during a training flight. Emergency Situations Ministry employees practiced rescuing people in particularly difficult conditions, in bad weather and in pitch darkness. Around nine in the evening the helicopter disappeared from radar. Two bystanders saw the diving car and the fire that broke out after the collision with the ground. Rescue services had to cut a clearing to get to the wreckage of the helicopter - they were found half an hour later, in the Tomilinsky forest park, just a kilometer from the village of Oktyabrsky. The bodies of all three crew members were also found there.
The next morning, September 22, the rescue work did not stop. The wreckage of the helicopter was removed from the scene of the emergency on trucks. The operational headquarters was deployed in a residential neighborhood not far from the scene of the tragedy. Up to a hundred people worked directly in the forest: employees of the “Tsentrospas” detachment and the “Leader” Special Risk Rescue Operations Center. We can already say that if it were not for the professional acumen of the crew, the tragedy could have turned out to be much larger - from a residential neighborhood to the crash site, nothing at all.
Apparently, the crew fought to the last and steered the plane away from the residential area during the crash, the acting officer told reporters. Head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the Moscow Region Alexey Pavlov.
What happened to his car and why the Mi-8 crashed is not yet known. The main versions of the investigation are a technical malfunction and a piloting error. Perhaps the black boxes, which have already been delivered to specialists for decoding at the Interstate Aviation Committee, will shed light on the truth.
It is known from ground services that the pilots did not report an emergency before hitting the ground. Experts also exclude weather conditions as a cause:
For ordinary citizens, the weather may not have been ideal: it was drizzling. There was a slight wind blowing. But for a helicopter flight these are acceptable weather conditions. Therefore, the weather was unlikely to be the cause of the disaster. Moreover, it can really be called favorable,” an aviation source familiar with the situation told MK.
The helicopter was over 20 years old at the time of the crash. At the same time, it is known that the crew, in accordance with the flight mission, performed aerobatic maneuvers during engine failure. Having once again turned off the engine at an altitude of 200 meters, the pilots were unable to start it again and the helicopter crashed.
Now the investigation also has to find out why the head of the ASC Zhukovsky and his deputy were in the same helicopter. How did it happen that in one fell swoop the aviation center was decapitated... Again, who allowed a training flight in an area where 25-story buildings are located? - said the source of MK.
Let us recall that on July 1, while extinguishing fires in the Irkutsk region, an Il-76 EMERCOM plane with a crew of 10 people crashed. The aircraft disappeared in a difficult-to-reach area. He was found on the slope of a hill south of the village of Rybny Uyan. The investigation has not yet identified those responsible for the plane crash.
The second incident occurred during an international mission in Portugal. While extinguishing a forest fire on August 14, one of the planes of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations almost crashed. The crew survived. The car was then driven by the honored pilot of Russia Valery Kruse.
Their colleagues and friends spoke about what professionals and people the pilots Roman Frolov, Dmitry Arsentyev and flight engineer Maxim Filippov were, as well as what could have caused the crash of the Mi-8 helicopter.
Dmitry Arsentiev.
What can we say now? Now we feel only bitterness and resentment that such wonderful people and professionals have left. Everyone is quite young, but already experienced. All the guys from the crew were very positive and sociable,” says Igor Komarov, deputy head of the Central Regional Center of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations for Aviation, about his subordinates. - Roman Frolov came to us recently and became the head of the aviation rescue center. He integrated into the team very easily and found understanding among both his subordinates and management. It was very comfortable to work with him. Dima Arsentiev is a very bright person, he never took offense at anyone, he even reacted with humor to some negative statements addressed to him. Maxim Filippov is the youngest of the crew, but a very competent specialist. He was ready to carry out tasks at any time of the day or night, in any weather, no matter what the situation. He was very responsive to any request. Performed all tasks without any reasoning or ranting.
Roman Frolov.
-Was this a planned flight?
Yes, the tasks were carried out as planned, everything was in accordance with the governing documents.
At the helm of the Mi-8 was Colonel Roman Frolov, who headed the Zhukovsky air rescue center. He was everyone's favorite wherever he served. Roman’s two younger brothers also connected their lives with aviation: one works as a Boeing 737 co-pilot, the second serves in the FSB and manages the Mi-8 crew.
Roman graduated from the Syzran Higher Military Pilot School in 2000. He served in our aviation rescue center since March 2015,” says Kantemir Davydov, head of the press service of the North Caucasus regional center of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. - Before that, I met with him in South Ossetia in 2008. We jointly carried out tasks to deliver humanitarian cargo. Then Roman came to serve us. He was already a well-trained pilot, a “first class pilot,” who had more than 1,300 hours of flight time. Everyone immediately noted how competent, neat, and punctual he was. A real officer. Here in the North Caucasus, he went through a harsh school. To be honest, it was very sad when he left us for a promotion. Because there are many pilots, but only a few super-professionals. For us it was, of course, a loss. Because flying in the mountains is not an easy task. You can always feel whether the pilot is driving the car confidently or not, whether he is afraid of the mountains or not. You could fly with this guy. In June we said goodbye to him very warmly, said parting words, believed that he had a long flying life ahead of him...
Roman Frolov only had the chance to head the Zhukovsky Aviation Rescue Center for 4 months.
Roman immediately got into the swing of things, began to organize his life, and delve into the pressing problems of the personnel,” says his colleague Victor. - Dima Arsentiev and Maxim Filippov worked at the center for a little over three years. No one has ever said anything bad about them. These are reliable, thorough Russian men who did their work simply and with love. I talked more with Maxim. Everyone who knew him noted his cheerful disposition. He was actually a very cheerful and positive person. It's very difficult for me to talk about him in the past tense. Just an hour before departure, we stood with him and smoked. He was unusually silent. It was as if he had a presentiment of something that day...
Maxim Filippov.
Maxim's relatives in the Stavropol Territory cannot believe his death.
Maxim was a real technician and really wanted to fly,” says his brother’s wife Natalya. - We were expecting him to visit in October. He promised to fly home to Stavropol. He so wanted to see his mother, whom he simply idolized... And now his brother Sergei has flown to Moscow to follow him...
Everyone is interested in what could have happened to the crew in the sky.
We’re scratching our heads,” says Victor. - The commander is a very experienced pilot, the second one has also flown a lot. What happened there is a mystery. On this day, this helicopter flew during the day with the same composition, and everything was in order. In general, we had night training sessions every Wednesday.
According to the rules, the head of the aviation rescue center and his deputy can fly and practice maneuvers on the same board?
They can. The first, as an instructor, can test the skills of the other. But again, they were both excellent pilots.
From open sources it became known that during a training flight the pilots practiced aerobatic maneuvers in case of engine failure. The engine was turned off several times, and during the next shutdown it did not start. But there is a second engine.
It is too early to judge what happened. Deciphering the “black” boxes will show what really happened on board.
During a training flight in difficult conditions in the Moscow region, a Mi-8 of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations crashed. All three crew members were killed, but managed to steer the helicopter away from residential buildings. Among the victims, the head of the Zhukovsky aviation rescue center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Roman Frolov, is an experienced rescuer who worked during forest fires in 2010. The most likely causes of the crash have already been named.
In the Lyubertsy region on Wednesday evening, a Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, with three crew members on board.
Another source notes that, “according to the preliminary version, the weather could not have caused the disaster, since at the time of the flight it was as favorable as possible.”
Employees of the Investigative Committee are working at the site of the helicopter crash. “Currently, investigators from the Moscow Interregional Transport Investigation Department of the Russian Investigative Committee are conducting an inspection of the scene of the incident,” a TASS source in the region’s law enforcement agencies said.
At the same time, rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations continue to collect fragments and debris of the helicopter.
The Investigative Committee began a pre-investigation investigation into the aircraft crash. Materials about the crash of the Mi-8 helicopter of the Ministry of Emergency Situations have already been transferred to military investigators of the Investigative Committee.
Heroes died
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Frolov and his colleagues participated in dozens of rescue operations in different regions of the country.
“This is a terrible tragedy for the aviation of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, for their relatives and friends. Great professionals have left, those whose calling was to save human lives,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations noted.
In 2010, when the largest fires in the country’s history were burning in Central Russia, Roman Frolov extinguished them in the Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir and Moscow regions. For his high professionalism, courage and bravery, he was awarded the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, Channel One reports.
Dmitry Arsentyev, a pilot with many years of experience, was one of the first to extinguish fires in different regions of the country using a Mi-8 helicopter equipped with a water dumping system.
All the victims repeatedly took part in the most complex rescue operations in Russia and abroad.
The Zhukovsky aviation detachment was created in 2000. In addition to extinguishing fires, rescuers delivered aid to residents of war-torn Tskhinvali, evacuated Russians from hot spots, and eliminated the consequences of floods.
Mi-8 is a multifunctional helicopter, can be used in a wide range of conditions and temperatures (from –50 to +50 degrees Celsius), and is easy to operate and maintain. Serial production of the Mi-8 began in 1965 at OJSC Kazan Helicopter Plant and OJSC Ulan-Ude Helicopter Plant.
Let us recall that in June of this year, a Su-27 fighter of the Russian Knights aerobatic team flew into the forest belt of the Pushkinsky district of the Moscow region. Pilot Sergei Eremenko, who led the falling plane away from residential buildings, died.
Text: Anastasia Petrova