Flight on 7 December 2012
On 7 December 2012 at approximately 12:00, the pilot-in-command (PIC) of a Robinson R-44 II helicopter, registration RA-04189, with a passenger on board, flew from the Khorugvino landing site in Solnechnogorsky District, Moscow Oblast, to the settlement of Ploski in Konakovsky District, Tver Oblast. According to a witness statement dated 21 December 2012, at about 16:00 Moscow time that day, the witness and the PIC flew together from Khorugvino to Ploski in the same helicopter.
Flight on 8 December 2012
On 8 December 2012, the PIC fully refueled the helicopter and departed from Ploski around 07:00 for Khorugvino. Later, from Khorugvino, he flew to the settlement of Ozeretskoye in Dmitrovsky District, Moscow Oblast, where he picked up two passengers. The helicopter landed back at Ploski at 11:00. The witness statement indicates that on 8 December at approximately 11:00, the PIC took off from the helipad at the dacha in Ploski to Khorugvino, then flew to Ozeretskoye to collect two passengers, and returned to the dacha around 15:00.
At 13:30 on 8 December 2012, the PIC took off from Ploski in the same helicopter (RA-04189) to proceed to Khorugvino.
Flight Planning and Airspace
No application for a flight plan (IVP) for the Robinson R-44 II RA-04189 was submitted to air traffic control (ATC) authorities for the flights on 8 December 2012, and no clearance was issued. The flight from Ploski to Khorugvino was conducted in Class G airspace, which does not require ATC clearance. A response from the head of the Moscow Zone Center of the Unified Air Traffic Management System confirmed that the helicopter was operating in Class G airspace.
Preflight Medical Examination
The PIC did not undergo a preflight medical examination before the flights on 8 December 2012.