Flight Details
On October 19, 2020, at 10:10, a takeoff was performed from the Orlovo landing site of the helicopter center AEROSOYUZ-ORLOVO, located near Bogdanikha in Moscow Oblast. The helicopter, a Robinson R44 II with registration RA-04327, was owned by a private individual. The flight route was planned from Orlovo to Cherepovets Airport, then to the Kedrovo landing site, and finally to a geographical point at 60°45′ N, 46°11′ E (Veliky Ustyug).
On board were the pilot-in-command (PIC), the executive director of LLC Helicopter Company AEROSOYUZ (AEROSOYUZ), and a female employee of AEROSOYUZ. The flight was conducted according to a flight plan filed by the PIC on October 19, 2020, with the Moscow Air Traffic Control Center. According to the general director of AEROSOYUZ, the purpose of the flight was to assess the feasibility of passenger transportation for New Year celebrations at the complex Votchina Ded Moroza in Veliky Ustyug.
Refueling Stop
The first landing was made at Cherepovets Airport at 12:23 on October 19, 2020, for refueling. According to a certificate issued by Severstal Airlines, the operator of Cherepovets Airport, at 13:20, the helicopter R44 RA-04327 was refueled with 107 liters (78 kg) of AVGAS 100LL gasoline. At 13:54, the PIC took off from Cherepovets for the route to the Kedrovo landing site. Landing at Kedrovo, which belongs to a private individual, was made at 14:22.
Overnight and Next Day
By agreement with the owner of the landing site, the helicopter was left there. The PIC and passengers traveled to a hotel in the city of Vologda. On October 20, 2020, at 05:00, the PIC filed a flight plan with the St. Petersburg Air Traffic Control Center for a flight from Kedrovo (Vologda) to the geographical point 60°45′ N, 46°11′ E (Veliky Ustyug). At 06:30, the PIC and passengers arrived from the hotel in Vologda at Kedrovo, where the PIC performed preflight preparations. No refueling of the aircraft took place. It remains to be determined what sources the PIC used for the flight.