Background
On 18 April 2017, a commercial passenger flight was performed by a Mi-8T helicopter with registration RA-25377, operated by the airline VITYAZ-AERO. The flight was conducted under a license for non-regular (charter) air transport of passengers. The flight plan specified a route from the landing site "Snezhnaia Dolina" to the slope of Mutnovsky Volcano and return.
Flight Planning
The flight was based on a request from the client Snezhnaia Dolina LLC, received by VITYAZ-AERO on 17 April 2017. The application for the commercial flight on the specified route was filed on 18 April 2016 by the management of VITYAZ-AERO with the Khabarovsk ZTs ES OrVD air traffic control center. Preliminary seasonal preparation for the crew had been conducted on 28 September 2016 by the airline's management in full.
Crew and Passengers
The crew consisted of the pilot-in-command (PIC), co-pilot, and flight engineer. A total of 20 passengers were on board: 17 foreign nationals (citizens of the USA, France, Monaco, Italy, and the United Kingdom) and 3 Russian citizens representing the tour operator as interpreters. The purpose of the flight was to drop off passengers on the volcano slope for snowboarding and skiing.
Preparations
On 16 April 2017, the crew arrived at Snezhnaia Dolina aboard the Mi-8T RA-25377. No flights were performed on 17 April 2017. Pre-flight preparation on 18 April 2017 was conducted at the Snezhnaia Dolina landing site under the direction of the PIC. The PIC carried out the pre-departure crew check. Commercial load documentation and tickets were processed by the crew at the landing site located on the territory of the Snezhnaia Dolina mountain sports base. Note: According to FAP-128 paragraph 8.10.1, medical support was absent at the aerodrome, but this fact was noted per regulations.