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Mi-8 crash in Kara-Bogaz-Gol

12 Mar 1996 · Kara-Bogaz-Gol, Caspian Sea, near Bekdash (Turkmenistan)

Akhal Mil Mi-8 · Not established

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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
12 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
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
Charter & commuter

Mil Mi-8

Aircraft type
Mil MI-8
Category
Helicopter · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
EZ-22684
Operator
Akhal
Onboard fatalities
12
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded

Cause areas

  • Not determined › Not determined

From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.

Approximate · Estimated position: Garabogaz, near the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.

From the Wikipedia article

The Mi-8 crash in Kara-Bogaz-Gol was an aviation accident involving a Mi-8T helicopter that occurred on Tuesday 12 March 1996 in the Kara-Bogaz-Gol bay (Caspian Sea), in which 12 people were killed.

Crash

Mi-8T helicopter registration EZ-22684 (factory number 8142, built in 1980) of the airline Akhal was performing a passenger flight to the "Garashsyz" oil platform, and on board were 3 crew members and 9 passengers — rotational oil workers. The flight took place in stormy weather with a strong gusty wind. Aircraft 22684 was travelling over the Kara-Bogaz-Gol bay when, at about 12:12, one and a half kilometres from the settlement of Bekdash, it suddenly fell into the water. All 12 people on board were killed.

According to available data, as of now (2014) this is the only air crash in Turkmenistan in the period since 1991.

Investigation and cause

Causes

The causes of the crash were not established.

Translated into English with AI assistance from the Russian Wikipedia article “Катастрофа Ми-8 в Кара-Богаз-Голе” (revision 151114203, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article

Sources

Russian Wikipedia article: Катастрофа Ми-8 в Кара-Богаз-Голе
Article
Катастрофа Ми-8 в Кара-Богаз-Голе
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
151114203 · 2026-01-11 · retrieved 2026-09-19
Wikidata
Q18398620
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
ru Wikipedia article "Катастрофа Ми-8 в Кара-Богаз-Голе" (page 5187405, revision 151114203), translated into English with AI assistance
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A helicopter carrying rotational oil workers to an offshore oil platform: an offshore oil shuttle helicopter service for hire. The article: "of the airline Akhal was performing a passenger flight to the "Garashsyz" oil platform, and on board were 3 crew members and 9 passengers — rotational oil workers"
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Russian Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.