The Ural Transport Office of the RF Investigative Committee continues the investigation into a crash of a Mil Mi-8 helicopter that claimed 19 lives (Part 3 of Article 263 of the RF Penal Code).

Investigative Team together with investigators of the Investigative Committee’s Central Office, employees of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations and members of the Interstate Aviation Committee’s commission have held a meeting today to discuss the crash probe, and then visited the crash scene to once more examine it and the helicopter. During the examination the officials are going to use forensic equipment to take pictures of debris strewn around.

Following the results of the examination decision is planned to be made about taking the helicopter away for storage. Fuel samples for forensic inquiries are going to be taken from the crash scene and the site the Mi-8 last refueled at. In addition, documents on the helicopter and those related to its flight operation as well as technical papers on helicopter’s main equipment have been confiscated by now. To find out the reasons for the crash, the investigators are going to examine and confiscate airborne recorders which are planned to be transferred to the specialists of the Interstate Aviation Committee for decoding.

At present, the investigators are examining the bodies. When all the relatives of the killed have arrived, they are planned to be named the victims. The victims of the crash who are now at the Novy Urengoi town hospital, as well as employers of the killed and representatives of Skol airlines are going to be questioned. Additionally, samples of buccal epithelium are going to be taken from the relatives to run DNA tests to identify the bodies.

The investigators are still considering three main versions of the crash – operation and flight safety breach, technical failure and bad weather. Not one of them has been given a priority yet. The investigation is ongoing.