On April 18, 2017, an Mi-8T operated by OOO AK "VITYAZ-AERO" was conducting a charter flight between the Snezhnaya Dolina landing site and the slope of the Mutnovlysky volcano in Kamchatka Krai, Russia. The flight was intended to disembark 20 passengers, including citizens from the USA, France, Monaco, Italy, and the United Kingdom, for seasonal mountain sports.
During the approach to the landing site, the crew of the RA-25377 performed a landing on a site selected via visual observation from the air. The investigation revealed that the pilot in command did not have authorization to land at sites selected visually at altitudes exceeding 2000 meters. Furthermore, the crew failed to perform a preliminary reconnaissance flight to inspect the landing site for obstacles, size, and wind conditions.
As a result of these failures, the helicopter encountered crosswind conditions that exceeded the limitations specified in the flight manual. This led to a premature descent and a hard landing on the mountain slope. No injuries or fatalities were reported among the crew or the 20 passengers on board.
Additional safety violations were identified during the investigation. The crew did not recalculate the helicopter's landing weight for the specific high-altitude conditions, and passengers were not wearing seatbelts during takeoff, flight, or landing. The investigation also noted that the operator lacked sufficient procedures for managing the risks of visual landings and lacked adequate oversight of crew operations away from the main base.