Flight Planning
On 6 July 2025, a Bell 407 helicopter with registration RA-01620 was planned to perform two flights on behalf of OOO Romeks-Kuban. The flights were to originate from the ExpoGrad landing site, located on the northern outskirts of Krasnodar. The first flight was scheduled for 09:00 following the route: ExpoGrad – Nebug – Golubaya Niva – ExpoGrad. The second flight was scheduled for 11:30 with the route: ExpoGrad – pos. Uchebnoye lesnichestvo – pgt. Enem – Ust-Labinsk – ExpoGrad. The pilot-in-command (PIC) submitted the flight plans in the prescribed manner. Air traffic control issued two permissions for visual flight rules (VFR) operations along the stated routes. The airspace on these routes was classified as classes C and G.
Aircraft and Crew Information
The PIC had been performing flights for Romeks-Kuban since March 2016. However, on the day of the accident, the PIC was not on the staff of Romeks-Kuban, and no employment contract had been formalized between the company and the PIC. The PIC operated the Bell 407 RA-01620 under a power of attorney (No. 126/1 dated 25 July 2024) issued by Romeks-Kuban, valid until 25 July 2025 inclusive. The aircraft was prepared for the flights jointly by the PIC and an aircraft technician from Romeks-Kuban (described as an engineer of the group for aircraft and engine maintenance), who held an aircraft maintenance technician certificate with appropriate qualifications.
Preflight Preparation
The flights were planned under VFR. The PIC obtained weather information from internet sources: MetAvia2, Windy, and AeroWeather. The meteorological conditions were reported as not precluding VFR flight. At the ExpoGrad landing site, there was no medical worker present, and the PIC did not undergo a preflight medical examination.