Heli­c­op­ter­crash: litt­le hope to find sur­vi­vors

The­re is no cer­tain­ty yet if the object that was loca­ted by echo­lot in a depth of 200-250 met­res on the sea flo­or in Isfjord, not far from the Rus­si­an heli­c­op­ter base at Heerod­den clo­se to Barents­burg, actual­ly is the wreck of the heli­c­op­ter. But the­re is no doubt that the MI-8 heli­c­op­ter did crash into Isfjord yes­ter­day. As more than 20 hours have gone by sin­ce the crash and the­re is no trace yet of any sur­vi­vors, hopes to find any of the 8 peo­p­le on board are get­ting smal­ler and smal­ler and the worst has to be feared.

Names of the 8 per­sons on board were alre­a­dy yes­ter­day released by Rus­si­an media. Now, also the respon­si­ble Nor­we­gi­an aut­ho­ri­ty, the Res­cue Cent­re North Nor­way, has released the names offi­ci­al­ly.

The per­sons on board the heli­c­op­ter were

Pas­sen­gers (Sci­en­tists of the Insti­tuts for Arc­tic and Ant­ar­c­tic Rese­arch in St. Peters­burg):
Oleg Golo­va­nov
Niko­laj Fade­jev
Mak­sim Kau­lio

Crew:

Jev­ge­nij Bara­nov – Chief pilot
Vla­di­mir Fro­lov – Second pilot
Alek­sej Poul­jaus­kas – Mecha­nic
Marat Mikht­a­rov – Tech­ni­ci­an
Alek­sej Korol­jov – Engi­neer

The­re is hope until the oppo­si­te is pro­ven, and every effort is taken to con­ti­nue the search and find sur­vi­vors. Nor­we­gi­an SAR forces are on loca­ti­on with heli­c­op­ters, a spe­cial aero­pla­ne from the Nor­we­gi­an air­force, ships and boats. But the more time is going by, the more likely it seems that it is a tra­ge­dy wit­hout sur­vi­vors.

The Sys­sel­man­nen has estab­lished a cont­act pho­ne num­ber for rela­ti­ves and expres­ses deep sym­pa­thy with tho­se who are affec­ted. This is shared by the aut­hor of the­se lines, who­se thoughts and sym­pa­thy are also with tho­se who were in the heli­c­op­ter and their fami­ly, fri­ends and col­le­agues and all others who are invol­ved.

Accor­ding to inter­na­tio­nal law, Nor­we­gi­an aut­ho­ri­ties are respon­si­ble for the inves­ti­ga­ti­on of the acci­dent. A hava­ry com­mis­si­on is alre­a­dy in Lon­gye­ar­by­en and will soon start to gather all infor­ma­ti­on that is available. But curr­ent­ly, the effort to find sur­vi­vors and the heli­c­op­ter are still the focus of all efforts.

Source: Sys­sel­man­nen, Sval­bard­pos­ten

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