A helicopter carrying 18 passengers who were heading off to work was killed in a crash.
A Russian helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff in Siberia on Saturday, killing all 18 people aboard.
The Interstate Aviation Committee, which oversees civil aviation in much of the former Soviet Union, said the Mi-8 helicopter collided with the load being carried by another helicopter that had taken off from the same pad in Vankor, above the Arctic Circle about 2,600 kilometers (1600 miles) northeast of Moscow.
The incident occurred in the Vankor Field area in eastern Siberia, at around 12:00 pm AEST said watchdog Rosaviatsia (Russian Federal Air Transport Agency)
Vankor is the region’s largest oil field, operated by Russian oil company Rosneft.
Helicopters frequently carry loads in slings that hang below the craft.
There were 15 passengers and three crew aboard the crashed helicopter, said a statement from the operator, UTair airlines.
Russian news reports said all the passengers were believed to have been working for a subsidiary of the state oil company Rosneft.
The watchdog stated that the weather conditions were normal at the time of the incident.
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A commission has been set up to investigate the crash.
The helicopters’ black boxes have been recovered, appear undamaged and will be sent to Moscow as part of the investigation, a news agency said, citing law enforcement agencies.
The other helicopter landed safely after the incident.
The helicopter that crashed was manufactured in 2010 and the pilot had nearly 6,000 hours of experience, including 2,300 as a captain, the UTair statement said.
In Russia, the helicopter operator predominantly works with oil and gas companies, transporting people and cargo for clients including Gazprom, Shell, and Rosneft.
It also works around the world on United Nations contracts, according to the company’s website.
This is the second such incident that has occurred within a week.
On August 1, an Aeromexico commercial flight carrying 97 passengers and four crew members crashed in the Mexican state of Durango. However, no deaths were reported, according to international news reports.
In February, a Saratov Airlines An-148 regional jet crashed about six minutes after takeoff from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, killing all 71 people aboard. Investigators said the crew had failed to turn on a heating unit, resulting in flawed airspeed readings.
A UTair ATR 72 crashed in Siberia in 2012, killing 33 of the 43 people aboard, after failing to be de-iced before takeoff.
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