Background
On 31 August 2024, a Mil Mi-8T helicopter registered as RA-25656, operated by Vityaz-Aero LLC, was scheduled for a commercial charter flight under contract with Sneg LLC. The flight was intended to transport passengers.
Flight Planning
According to the deputy director for flight safety of Vityaz-Aero, the crew planned flights on 31 August 2024 along the following routes:
- Nikolaevka point – Galygina River mountain – Ozernaya point – Galygina River mountain – Nikolaevka-2 point
- Nikolaevka-2 point – Vachkazhets mountain – Nikolaevka-2 point
The flight plan was filed on 30 August 2024 by a Vityaz-Aero representative with the Regional Center of the Unified Air Traffic Management System (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky). The airspace along the requested route is Class G. Permission for the flight was issued to the Nikolaevka-2 dispatch point. The flights were planned to start at 23:30 UTC on 30 August.
Pre-Flight Preparations
The helicopter crew arrived at the Nikolaevka-2 landing site around 22:30 on 30 August and began pre-flight preparations. The pre-flight medical examination of the crew was not conducted. According to the investigation, no medical worker was present at the Nikolaevka-2 site. The decision to allow the crew to fly was made by the pilot-in-command, which is permitted under paragraph 8.10.1 of the Federal Aviation Rules (FAP-128). This regulation allows the PIC to decide on crew fitness when a medical worker is absent from the aerodrome or landing site.
Accident Investigation Context
The source material notes that the flight task was not found at the accident site, indicating that an accident occurred, though details of the accident itself are not provided in this excerpt. The investigation focuses on the pre-flight phase.