Russia Mi-8 Helicopter With 22 Onboard Goes Missing | Latest Inputs

Kamchatka: A Mi-8 helicopter went missing in Russia’s far east on Saturday with 22 people on board. The Mi-8 helicopter took off close to the Vachkazhets volcano in the Kamchatka region, but did not arrive at its destination as scheduled, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said in a statement.

The chopper had 19 passengers and three crew members on board, the agency added.

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.

Russian Rescue Teams Are Searching For The Missing Chopper

As per the regional authorities, the helicopter was carrying 22 people, most of them were tourists. "Today at about 1615 (0415 GMT) communication was lost with a Mi-8 helicopter, which had 22 people on board, 19 passengers and three crew members," Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on Telegram.

The Russian authorities said that the rescue teams in helicopters had been searching the night for the missing aircraft, focusing on a river valley that the helicopter was due to fly along. Notably, the Mi-8 is a Soviet-designed military helicopter that is widely used for transport in Russia.

The missing helicopter had picked up passengers near the Vachkazhets ancient volcano in a scenic area of the peninsula known for its wild landscapes and active volcanoes. A source in the emergency services told a foreign news agency that the helicopter disappeared from radar almost immediately after taking off and the crew did not report any problems.

The local weather service said that there was poor visibility in the airport area.

Reports suggested that crashes involving planes and helicopters are very frequent in Russia's far eastern region, which is sparsely populated and where there is often harsh weather.

In August 2021, a Mi-8 helicopter with 16 people on board including 13 tourists crashed into a lake in Kamchatka due to poor visibility, killing eight. While in July in the same year, a plane crashed as it came into land on the peninsula, with 22 passengers and 6 crew aboard, all of whom were killed.