Russian chopper with 22 aboard goes missing

Moscow, August 31

The Mi-8 helicopter that took off close to the Vachkazhets volcano in the Kamchatka region of Russia went missing near Far East, the country’s Federal Air Transport Agency said in a statement.

It is believed that there were 22 people, including 19 passengers and three crew members, on board.

The Mi-8 helicopter did not arrive at its destination as scheduled, the agency said.

The helicopter, owned by Vityaz-Aero, was carrying out a trip to the volcano. Designed during the Soviet-era, the Mi-8 helicopter remains popular and widely used in Russia.

It disappeared from radar and crew members failed to make contact from around 16:15 (04:15 GMT), the governor of Kamchatka said. An emergencies ministry source told the state-owned news agency Tass that the crew did not report any difficulties before the disappearance.

The Mi-8 is a two-engine helicopter designed in the 1960s.

It is widely used in Russia, where crashes have been frequent, as well as in neighbouring countries and many other nations.