Mi-8 crash in Svalbard on 30 March 2008

The Mi-8 crash in Svalbard was an air disaster that occurred on 30 March 2008. A Mi-8MT helicopter belonging to the Russian airline SPARK+ was operating a passenger flight on the Longyearbyen (Svalbard) — Barentsburg (Kapp Heer) route with 4 crew members and 5 passengers on board, but during the approach to the heliport in poor visibility the helicopter collided with a reinforced concrete hangar and fell onto its left side. 3 people were killed.

Circumstances of the accident

The Mi-8MT helicopter was approaching the Cape Heer base landing site from the east in conditions of heavy snowfall and gusty wind. A layer of freshly fallen snow 18-22 mm thick had formed on the landing site. After the helicopter hovered over the intended landing spot and began to descend, the snow was lifted into the air by the airflow from the rotating rotors, as a result of which the helicopter crew could not make out ground references. In the absence of clear spatial orientation, the pilot decided not to land immediately but to go around. The helicopter went into a climb and then into level flight in a westerly direction. During the acceleration and climb, which took place in the absence of visual references and with a gusty northerly wind acting on the helicopter, a left bank and a drift of the helicopter to the left of the intended course occurred. Owing to the lack of visibility of ground references, the crew had no opportunity to notice in time the drift of the helicopter to the left and forward that occurred during the go-around and the development of a left bank, which may have been caused by a sharp strengthening (gust) of the wind. Consequently, the crew also had no opportunity to counter it in time. 100 m from the helipad, the Mi-8MT struck the upper part of the front end of a reinforced concrete hangar with the left side of its cockpit and flipped over the corner on the left side, after which its tail section struck the ground and it fell onto its left side. The aircraft commander, the navigator and one passenger were killed.