Mi-10 crash near Tobolsk

The Mi-10 crash near Tobolsk was an aviation accident that occurred on 12 April 1978 in the vicinity of Tobolsk, involving an Mi-10K helicopter of the airline Aeroflot, in which 8 people were killed.

Crash

The Mi-10K with registration 04133 (serial number 2297, built in 1976) was operating a cargo flight from Tyumen to the Tobolsk area, during which it was to carry an underslung load — a site cabin trailer — and it was flown by a crew of 6. There were also 3 passengers on board.

While flying near Tobolsk, the helicopter encountered a powerful snowstorm, and the attitude indicators probably failed. The crew lost spatial orientation and therefore decided to jettison the load. But when the load had been jettisoned, the radio operator reported that he had seen the cabin fall onto some house (as it later turned out, it was a shed standing in a field). The crew then decided to assess the consequences of the drop, for which it began to descend. However, due to disorientation in a snow squall the pilots lost control of the rate of descent. As a result the Mi-10 struck the ground at high speed, was completely destroyed and burned. At the moment of impact the co-pilot (Shcherban Sergei Vladimirovich) was thrown out of the helicopter through the right blister window, sustaining bodily injuries. The other 5 crew members and 3 service passengers (aircraft technicians) were killed.