The helicopter was already on fire when it came down on a house near the Achi-Su riverbank. Five people died in the crash on November 7 in Dagestan, and two more were hurt, Russian state media and the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported.
The Ka-226, registered as RA-19307, belonged to the Kizlyar Electromechanical Plant. It had been flying from Kizlyar to Izberbash when it fell near Achi-Su, a settlement in the Karabudakhkent district. Emergency officials said flames broke out in the air. Nobody was inside the house it hit.
Firefighters put out a blaze covering 80 square meters at the site. Three people were taken to hospital at first, and one of them later died of severe burns, which brought the toll to five.
Who was on board
Early state media accounts described the passengers as tourists. That turned out to be wrong. TASS and the Telegram channel 112 said everyone aboard worked for the Kizlyar plant, which makes aviation and dual-use parts for Russia’s defense industry. The company itself confirmed the deaths on November 8 and named two of the dead: its Deputy General Director and the helicopter’s flight mechanic.
The plant is best known for external suspension systems used to launch air-to-surface missiles, among them the Kh-58, Kh-59 and Kh-31. It also builds equipment for diagnosing and servicing aircraft. More recently it took part in a mobile anti-aircraft project that pairs the Typhoon-VDV armored vehicle with a ZU-23-2 autocannon, shown at the Army-2022 exhibition. The United States has sanctioned the company for its part in supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Cause still open
Local authorities said a technical malfunction was the likely cause. Preliminary reports pointed instead to the crew losing control before impact. The Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsiya, has classed the event as an aviation disaster and opened an investigation.
The Ka-226 is a twin-engine helicopter that can seat up to seven passengers.
Sources
- Russian Ka-226 Military Helicopter Linked to Missile Factory Crashes Into House in Dagestan
- Helicopter crash in Russia’s Dagestan kills five, injures t…
Sources
- Russian Ka-226 Helicopter Crash in Dagestan Linked to Missile …
- Helicopter crash in Russia’s Dagestan kills five, injures two
