MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax-AVN) - A Pacific Fleet MI-8 Hip helicopter has crashed in Kamchatka, Colonel Igor Dygalo, aide to the Russian Navy commander, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Thursday.
"The MI-8 helicopter was discovered on the ice on Lake Galagir (100 kilometers from Cape Shipunskoy in Kamchatka) at 9:05 a.m. Moscow time (0605 GMT). It was lying on its side and its tail was damaged," Dygalo said, adding that the three crewmembers and four passengers were not injured.
"The crewmembers and passengers will be evacuated on a KA-27 Helix helicopter on Friday due to the bad weather conditions in the area of the air crash," he said.
Dygalo blamed a technical malfunction for the incident.
The MI-8 took off from the Yelizovo airfield in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at 2:58 a.m. Moscow time on Thursday (2358 GMT on Wednesday). It arrived at Cape Shipunskoy at 3:36 a.m. Moscow time (0136 GMT_. Later, the helicopter, which was already on its way back to Yelizovo, failed to respond to air traffic controllers at 7:00 a.m. Moscow time (0400 GMT). Another MI-8 helicopter was sent to search for it.