CHITA. May 7 (Interfax-AVN) - An MI-8 Hip helicopter of the Russian Defense Ministry crashed in Russia's Altai republic on Tuesday.
A source with a rescue team has told Interfax-Military News Agency that they found the wreckage of the crashed helicopter 20 kilometers northwest of the village of Kurai.
The fate of the crew has not been determined.
The rescuers spotted the wreckage from the air. The crash site is located in a mountainous area at an altitude of 3,000 to 3,500 meters. The rescuers have so far been unable to land at the scene.
According to Defense Ministry information, the MI-8 helicopter attached to the Siberian military district was performing a training flight in the mountains. Contact with it was lost at 8:30 a.m. Moscow time (0430 GMT) on Tuesday. Several MI-8 helicopters left from Gorno-Altaisk to search for the missing aircraft at 10:25 a.m. Moscow time (0625 GMT), and an AN- 12 Cub plane later joined the search and rescue operation.