Incident Overview
On 29 June 2022, a Mil Mi-8MTV helicopter, registration RA-25116, operated by Polyarnye Avialinii, was performing forestry aviation work on behalf of the Federal Budgetary Institution Avialesookhrana under contract number 0348100075222000025_44682. The flight was designated as YAP-9936.
Flight Plan and Route
The flight plan was filed by the airline's representative with the Air Traffic Management Center in Yakutsk on the same day. The planned route was Magan – Aldan – MP-13A – MP-12A – Ust-Maya – MP-12A – MP-13A – MP-20 – Aldan. The actual flight route matched the planned route until reaching MP-20, which was the accident site. The airspace along the route and at the accident site was class G. No violations of airspace usage rules were recorded during the flight.
Pre-flight Preparations
The crew arrived at Magan Airport around 02:00 and began pre-flight preparations. A pre-flight medical examination was conducted at the airport's medical station, as documented in the crew medical log and the flight assignment dated 29 June 2022 (No. 4064). The crew was cleared for the flight. At 02:20, the crew received an area weather forecast via email from the MetAvia2 website of Roshydromet. The forecast did not preclude visual flight rules (VFR) operations.
Maintenance
Operational maintenance of the helicopter was performed on 29 June 2022 under form VS+A1+OV, as per work order No. 3766, by qualified technical personnel of Polyarnye Avialinii. The most recent periodic maintenance was also performed on 29 June 2022 under form F-2, as per work order No. 3746, by the same technical staff.