Mi-8 Crew Carried Out a Successful SAR Operation in the Taiga

The crew of Mi-8 of UTair - Helicopter Services conducted a successful search and rescue operation in The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Two employees of Kostromageofizika, the production branch of Gazprom Georesurs LLC, departed with cross-country vehicle from Vitim settlement to the south, and later the communication with the group got lost. Upon receiving the notification, the crew together with the personnel of Kostromageofizika departed from Talakan airport along the route of the group.

"The weather conditions were adverse and minimum acceptable: snowfall and poor visibility made the visual search complicated. With the help of four customer's representatives we could detect the vehicle from the air, and the missing people after that. Such flights, of course, are not something routine for us but our crews are always ready to perform them" - Ivan Pavlinin, Mi-8 PIC, commented on the SAR operation.

The adverse weather and forested area did not allow for landing and rescuing people. The crew transmitted the location coordinates and returned to the airport. Within an hour, the rescue team reached the location and evacuated the employees, no one was injured.

"Search and rescue operations are an important part of our crews’ work that demonstrates high professionalism of the pilots and confidence level of our customers. In the conditions of poor visibility and hard-to-reach area the pilots did their best to ensure that help arrived as soon as possible" - noted Sergey Nikolyuk, Vice-President – Regional Director of UTair - Helicopter Services.

The management of Gazprom Georesurs expressed their gratitude to the Company following the results of search and rescue operation. "The participation of UTair - Helicopter Services was crucial for search and rescue of the missing workers of Kostromageofizika PB. Once again your specialists confirmed their reputation of real professionals with the highest level of discipline, hard work and courage beyond compare. Their timely, competent, and decisive actions allowed us to save life and health of our colleagues," said acting Director General Vyacheslav Plotnikov.

UTair - Helicopter Services is the helicopter operator No. 1 in Russia and the largest helicopter company in the world in terms of fleet size and cargo capacity. It is a part of UTair Group and its main helicopter company operating fleet of more than 330 aircraft of various types - mostly Mil family and Airbus Helicopters. The Company's helicopters are supporting its customers in 4 continents. UTair – Helicopter Services fleet capabilities and personnel expertise enable high quality and safety of aerial works of any complexity in any geographical and climatic regions.