Chernobyl Mi-8 helicopter crash
Mil Mi-8 · Crash
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 4 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 4
- Survivors
- Unknown
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Unknown
Mil Mi-8
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On October 2, 1986, a Mil Mi-8 helicopter involved in the cleanup effort that followed the Chernobyl disaster struck a crane and crashed, resulting in the deaths of all four of its crew.
Crash
By October, the "sarcophagus" intended to enclose the remains of the exploded reactor at Chernobyl was nearing completion. Helicopters continued to dump decontaminants over the site in order to combat the high levels of radioactivity. On October 2, a pair of helicopters designated Cup-1 and Cup-2 were assigned to dump two loads, one of sand and lead and the other of polyvinyl acetate glue. The glue was intended to trap the radioactive dust covering the site, allowing it to be safely removed by workers on the ground. Cup-1 completed its mission without incident, but as Cup-2 was passing over the reactor building, its blades struck the cables of one of the cranes involved in the construction of the sarcophagus. The blades shattered and the helicopter plummeted to the ground, landing just outside the reactor building. All four of its crew were killed. A KGB report suggested that the pilot had been blinded by sunlight.
The incident was captured by a member of a visiting film crew.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Chernobyl Mi-8 helicopter crash” (revision 1371743306, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Chernobyl Mi-8 helicopter crash
- Revision
- 1371743306 · 2026-08-28 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q131314487
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Chernobyl Mi-8 helicopter crash" (page 78223494, revision 1371743306)
- Date
- Wikipedia article text, read with AI assistance: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia article text, read with AI assistance: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia article text, read with AI assistance: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- not stated in the Wikipedia article's infobox or opening paragraph
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia article text, read with AI assistance: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.