Mi-6 crash at Novoagansk

The Mi-6 crash at Novoagansk was an aviation accident involving an Aeroflot Mi-6A heavy transport helicopter that occurred in the daytime on Tuesday, 3 January 1984 in the vicinity of the settlement of Novoagansk (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug), in which 38 people were killed. It is the largest crash in the history of the Mi-6.

Crash

That day aircraft 21006, chartered by the organisation Agan Oil and Gas Exploration Expedition (ANGRE), was operating a passenger and transport flight delivering passengers and cargo to drilling rigs; the crew consisted of 5 people, and the commander's experience in the position was 2180 flight hours. The helicopter's passenger capacity was 30 seats, but both pilots agreed to 60 passengers boarding without cargo, giving a maximum load of (although the weight of one passenger under international rules was taken as 175 lb). But in fact there were 75 passengers on board, including 16 who had not been processed or entered on the list, and 2191 kg of cargo; thus the actual load was, that is, almost double the declared load.

In this case the crew should have recalculated the takeoff weight and centre of gravity, thanks to which they could have determined that the helicopter was overloaded, but this point was ignored. The duty officer for meeting, boarding and check-in of passengers at Novoagansk airport demanded that the excess load be removed (by offloading the extra passengers or unloading the cargo), but the commander decided to depart, and moreover in the southeastern sector (70—180°), although this was prohibited due to the presence of obstacles on the takeoff heading, and the duty officer did not take any effective measures to prevent the helicopter from departing.

In the daytime, in simple weather conditions, the machine rose vertically from the helipad, after which the crew, using the effect of the resulting “air cushion”, continued the takeoff helicopter-style. However, having no engine power reserve, the overloaded Mi-6 began to lose height while moving forward until it struck the ground, after which, overturning onto its left side, it was partially destroyed and burned. 38 passengers were killed in the accident; another 4 passengers and 2 crew members sustained bodily injuries.