A Russian Mi-8 helicopter crashed in a lake in the country's northern Karelia region with three people on board, sparking an underwater search, authorities said on Monday.
The aircraft crashed on Sunday as a training flight was being conducted, Russia's Emergencies Ministry said on Telegram, adding that it was flown by "an experienced crew with thousands of flight hours."
The ministry reported a loss of communication with the aircraft at 10:26 p.m. Moscow time on Sunday.
There were three crew members on board the helicopter at the time of the crash. Russian authorities have yet to confirm if there were casualties, however, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported that all three—a captain, a co-pilot, and a flight engineer—were killed in the crash.
A remote-controlled underwater vehicle and divers were deployed in Lake Onega, and the helicopter's wreckage was found 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) from the shore of the lake at a depth of 131 to 164 feet.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.
Russia's Emergencies Ministry said a criminal investigation has been opened to probe the cause of the crash.
"During their work at the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the crew was repeatedly involved in searching and rescuing people in forests and water areas, extinguishing natural and man-made fires," the ministry said.
Russia's state-run news agency Tass, citing sources in operational services, said that an investigation is looking into several possible causes of the Mi-8 crash, including pilot error, bad weather and technical issues. According to the agency, the helicopter crew did not report any malfunctions during the flight, and the aircraft went through all regulatory procedures before its departure.
On January 17, another Mi-8 helicopter crashed at the Frunze-1 Air Base in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, killing one person and injuring several others. Kyrgyzstan's Defense Ministry said the helicopter belonged to the Kyrgyz military.
"The helicopter was on a training flight and made an emergency hard landing," the ministry said in a statement at the time.
The cause of that crash was unclear.
Kyrgyzstan became part of the Russian Empire in 1876 and later a constituent republic of the USSR. It attained sovereignty as a nation state after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 but there are still Russian military bases in the central Asian country.
Tass describes the Mi-8, designed in the 1960s, as a "well-known Soviet and Russian model of helicopter, and one of the most mass-produced helicopters in the world." The twin-engined aircraft, designed to transport troops, has been sold to more than 100 countries.
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Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
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