What happened
On December 18, 2007, a Mil Mi-8MTV-1 helicopter, registration RA-25492, operated by UTair, was scheduled to perform a transport and communications flight. The mission was organized by the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) to transport passengers on a route from Goma airport to the settlement of Valikale and back to Goma.
The flight planning for aircraft servicing the MONUC mission was managed by the UN mission's flight support service. This process involved submitting flight requests to aviation authorities through UN channels to obtain necessary permits. Once approved, a flight schedule was established, detailing the route, departure and arrival times, ground time, and the amount of cargo and passengers to be carried. This schedule was coordinated with the flight group commander and distributed to all relevant services and crews.
The crew, which included a pilot-in-command, co-pilot, flight mechanic, flight engineer-instructor, and a flight attendant, began pre-flight preparations at the Goma airfield at 07:30. The departure was scheduled for 08:30.
The investigation
As part of the pre-flight procedures, the pilot-in-command conducted an oral interview and verified the crew's pre-flight rest. The crew was cleared for the flight following the completion of an aviation risk management checklist, a UN-specific document used to facilitate flight decision-making. The flight assignment was processed through the flight support service's dispatch center.