What: Krasavia Mi-8 helicopter
Where: Krasnoyarsk Russia
When: Oct 17, 2012 8:00 a.m.
Who: 1 fatality, 10 injured
Why: A Krasavia helicopter with four crew transporting eight passengers to an oil field crashed on landing at Evenkiysky at 8:00 a.m
There was one fatality and three serious injuries, eight minor injuries. The destination was identified as the Yurupchen-5 oil field.
The tail rotor of the chopper struck something or was damaged by the main rotor, and it fell on its side.
Chinese billionaire Lam Kok purchased a French vineyard, and boarded a helicopter with three others, including his son, the former owner who was flying the helicopter, and a translator, to take an aerial tour of the 65-hectare (160-acre) vineyards and surrounding grounds. Lam Kok’s and James Gregoire’s wives had declined to fly.
Twenty minutes after the flight took off, the helicopter went missing.
The helicopter, flown by James Gregoire, former owner of the vineyard, was missing but a witness came forward and told a mounted policeman that the helicopter had been seen falling into the Dordogne river, and people had been seen struggling in the water.
Emergency helicopters, divers and a hundred foot officers converged on the scene, and were deployed to search. After dark, a helicopter with a searchlight joined the searchers.
Lam Kok, new owner of the vineyard Château de la Riviere was head of the Hong Kong-based Brilliant group which plans to develop a tea and wine tasting center and hotel in Bordeaux.
One of the bodies was recovered around midnight. Rumors are that the body is of Lam Kok’s twelve year old son. The search was halted overnight, but resumed on the morning of the twenty-first. The search has been hampered by strong currents in the river.
Ironically, John Leprince, a former owner of the vineyard, died in a plane crash in 2002, not far from the crash site in the Dordogne. Combined with this crash, this means the last three owners of the vineyard were lost in aviation accidents.
By nightfall tonight, 34 bodies have been recovered.
Investigative crews sort through baby sandals, and airplane parts drifting ashore. People are questioning why the flight was not delayed due to the storm raging at the time of takeoff.
The USS-Ramage, and US P-3 surveillance aircraft are helping with search and rescue efforts.
The plane was last serviced on Dec. 25.
Reports abound that the plane was seen to be on fire on its way down. If reports of an engine fire proved to be correct, it would have been difficult to handle at such a low altitude; but reports of a lighting strike, compounded by poor visibility and high winds compounded by a bird strike are equally as possible.
A Robinson R-44 helicopter crashed in a hayfield around 2 miles north of Ketchum, Oklahoma, on August 25th.
FAA authorities said the helicopter, flying from Ketchum airport, went down after it lost its tail rotor.
The pilot, who was the only one aboard, remained uninjured.
The accident is being investigated.
RusLine Airlines flight 7R-211 made an emergency landing at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, on November 23rd.
The plane flying from Saint Petersburg to Kirov, Russia, was diverted due to a hydraulic failure.
The plane landed uneventfully. Everyone aboard remained safe.
Pictured: A homebuilt Aussie Ultralight. The one involved in this crash is no doubt a completely different type.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Phil Vabre
What: 250 lb single-engine true Ultralight aircraft
Where: Desoto County soybean field near the intersection of Stateline and Center Hill Roads.
When: 10/2/09
Who: 52 year-old Louis Bassie of Byhalia Mississippi
Why: As he was coming in for a landing, Bassie’s plane took a nose-dive, spiraled out-of-control and crashed. Bassie had a pilot’s license, worked as a crop-duster, and had served in the military, but it does not take a license to fly a home built kit plane.
Federal authorities will not be investigating the crash of an unlicensed plane.
On April 29, we reported the National Air Cargo flight that crashed when it’s load shifted and the plane stalled. Federal investigators and Boeing experts went to Afghanistan to to assist in the investigation.
On Jun 2nd 2013, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation of Afghanistan investigation announced officially that it was the weight of three armored vehicles and two mine sweepers 80 tons––of shifting cargo that caused the plane to crash.
The wiring in the back of the plane was cut by impact with the cargo, leaving the pilots helpless to control the plane.
There were no survivors.
As a result of the April Crash, on May 17, 2013 Boeing issued the following SAFO:
