All 5 crewmembers feared dead after Ka-27 helicopter crashes in Russia, says official

On Friday, a spokesperson of Russia's emergency services stated that all five crew members of the Ka-27 helicopter that crashed near Kamchatka are most likely dead. According to preliminary data, no survivors were found following an aerial assessment of the crash scene, he added. The report by Sputnik stated that the helicopter went missing on Thursday, September 23, and was subsequently discovered around 10 km northwest of Nikolayevka.

The helicopter belonged to the Russian Federal Security Service's border department for the Eastern Arctic and its wreckage was found at an altitude of about 950 meters in the Kamchatka region. Earlier, Tass, a Russian news agency, reported that the Ka-27 helicopter made a rough landing near Mount Ostraya in Kamchatka in the wee hours of Friday. 

According to the Russian emergency department, the Ka-27 prototype is a carrier-based helicopter that can be deployed aboard various types of surface ships and is designed for the navy's ocean-going anti-submarine operations. The helicopter's structure is a dual-rotor coaxial anti-propeller. The power loss is minimal, and the mobility is excellent, as there is no tail boom and rotor. The helicopter may even be placed on the deck of a small ship after folding the blades. The Ka-27 helicopter was designed almost 40 years ago and is not designed to withstand a collision or shock. It uses a dual-rotor configuration with a coaxial counter-rotating dual-rotor layout. 

Mi-8 helicopter crashed last month in Kamchatka region

It's worth mentioning here that a Mi-8 helicopter carrying 16 people crashed into Kurile Lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula last month. While eight individuals were able to escape the sinking plane and were rescued by Kronotsky nature reserve rangers who rushed to the crash site on boats, the remaining eight could not be saved, according to The Associated Press (AP). The Mi-8 helicopter, designed in the 1960s, was operated by a local private carrier - Vityaz-Aero. However, following the incident, authorities banned the carrier from transporting any more passengers till further order. An investigation was also launched to ascertain any possible violation of flight safety rules. It should be mentioned here that the company is Russia's one of the biggest local aviation groups that fly tourists to the Kronotsky Reserve, reported The AP. 

Image: ANI/AP