Robinson R66 crash over Lake Teletskoye

The Robinson R66 crash over Lake Teletskoye was an aviation accident on 12 February 2017 in the area of Lake Teletskoye (Turochaksky District of the Altai Republic).

The 5 people on board the Robinson R66, including the former deputy prime minister of the government of the Altai Republic Anatoly Bannykh, were declared missing. The accident drew a wide response in the Russian media. This was primarily due to the person of Bannykh, who in 2009 survived another high-profile crash of a Mi-171 helicopter, which occurred in the Altai Mountains while the helicopter's passengers were hunting argali (in which the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the State Duma, Aleksandr Kosopkin, was killed).

The helicopter has not been found; of the passengers, only the body of Yelena Rakitskaya was found; the search operations were suspended, and the passengers were declared dead.

Chronology of events

An employee of the Altai Biosphere Reserve, Sergei Usik, said that on 12 February 2017 the Robinson R-66 was flying from the direction of Khakassia and was heading to the “Samysh” base. According to the eyewitness, because of the bad weather the pilot decided to land at the Kokshi ranger station and assess the situation. One of the female passengers insisted on continuing the flight. Businessman Anatoly Bannykh was against departing and suggested spending the night at Kokshi, but the pilot agreed to continue the flight.

At about 20:15 the helicopter took off and flew with its searchlight on about 800 metres to the west, then turned around and came back. Then the helicopter again turned to the west, beginning to descend sharply at a distance of about 1 km from the shore. The eyewitness heard a slap on the water and saw that the searchlight went out. According to his testimony, this happened at about 20:20, 5 minutes after departure. Usik reported the emergency to the reserve management and to law enforcement agencies. That evening, because of the bad weather, it was not possible to send a boat to the crash site.

The search operation, which began on the morning of 13 February, was hampered by thick fog and snowfall over the lake. At the presumed crash site, because of strong winds, a wind-tunnel effect with air eddies forms, which prevents going there by boat. At the Kokshi ranger station of the Altai Reserve, rescuers set up a temporary camp with a helipad. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS), about 250 people and more than 40 pieces of equipment were involved in the search for the helicopter. A hovercraft was delivered to the search area from Novosibirsk Oblast, 4 helicopters (of the MChS of Russia, Rosaviatsia and a private airline) were prepared for departure, and a remotely operated underwater vehicle “Falcon” was delivered from Irkutsk.

On the first day of the search, about 2 km from the presumed crash site of the helicopter, the body of a female passenger of the crashed helicopter was found. The body could not be identified on the spot. Over the following days the search operations were halted several times because of bad weather — strong wind and high waves. On 15 February representatives of the MChS announced the discovery of rotor covers, lines, the pilot's seat, the engine and fastening elements 16 kilometres south of the Kokshi ranger station. That same evening, at a distance of 21 km south of the Kokshi ranger station, rescuers found a helicopter rotor blade.

On 20 February 2017 the body of the woman found earlier was identified. The deceased turned out to be the pilot's wife, Yelena Rakitskaya.

On 21 February 2017 rescuers deployed underwater robots to search for the helicopter.

During the search operation the area of the presumed crash was surveyed completely. Rescuers and volunteers inspected 10.5 km of shoreline. Using small boats — 24 km of water area along the shores. Using aircraft, 210 sq km of territory was surveyed. Divers surveyed 10 thousand m² at depths of up to 30 m. No large objects could be found. On 26 February 2017 the search for the helicopter was suspended until April because of the storm season on Lake Teletskoye, when navigation on it is prohibited and the presence of people is dangerous.

In July 2017, at a joint meeting of Rosaviatsia, the government of the Altai Republic and the MChS, it was decided not to resume the search for the helicopter on the grounds that it was “inexpedient”.