The passengers had spent the day at the extinct Vachkazhets volcano, one of the scenic excursions that draw adventure tourists to Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula each summer. On the afternoon of August 31, 2024, their Mil Mi-8T helicopter lifted off for the return flight to Nikolayevka, about 20 kilometers away. Fog and drizzle had moved into the hilly terrain south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The helicopter never arrived. When search teams found the wreckage the following day, scattered across a hillside at 900 meters elevation, all 22 people aboard -- 19 passengers and three crew members -- were dead.
The trip had been organized jointly by the Kamchatka Freeride Community and Bolshaya Strana, a Moscow-based tour operator. Among the passengers were Kirill Seregin, a locally well-known extreme sports enthusiast and experienced guide who led the Kamchatka Freeride Community, and Mikhail Repnikov and Yulia Repnikova, the founders of Bolshaya Strana. In command was Captain Denis Bleshchik, 38 years old, who had been flying helicopters for 12 years and had logged more than 5,728 hours on the Mi-8 type. The aircraft itself, registered as RA-25656, was a 32-year-old Mi-8T powered by two Klimov TV2-117A engines. It was operated by Vityaz-Aero, a company that organized tourist flights across Kamchatka's volcanic landscape.
When the helicopter failed to arrive at its destination, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations launched a search. Two Vityaz-Aero Mi-8 helicopters were deployed, along with an Antonov An-26 equipped with a cell phone locator. Darkness forced the search to pause overnight. By the time the operation reached full scale, 39 people, 14 units of equipment, four Mi-8 helicopters, and the An-26 were involved. The wreckage was found in hilly terrain near the point of the helicopter's last communication, at an elevation of 900 meters. The Kamchatka Department of Hydrometeorology confirmed that fog and drizzle had been present in the area at the time of the crash. The aircraft had burned on impact.
The crash triggered a comprehensive inspection of Vityaz-Aero by Rosaviatsiya, Russia's federal aviation authority, and the Federal Service for Supervision of Transport. What they uncovered went far beyond a single accident. The airline's 63 pilots had not undergone required training. More than half of the fleet had not been properly maintained to meet airworthiness standards. Three helicopters were deemed operationally dangerous, with 46 defects identified. Maintenance had been conducted by unauthorized personnel lacking proper equipment and documentation. Ten previous aviation accidents and incidents had been concealed from regulators. Seventeen pilots had worked beyond legal duty-time limits. The inspectors suspended multiple flights, barred 50 employees from engineering and aviation duties, and prohibited operation of eight aircraft. Rosaviatsiya then revoked Vityaz-Aero's air operator's certificate entirely. On September 13, the company's founders dismissed CEO Viktor Sirotin, along with Dmitry Zadirey, the Deputy CEO for Flight Operations.
Kamchatka's volcanic wilderness is among the most spectacular landscapes on Earth, and helicopters are the primary means of reaching it. Roads on the peninsula are scarce -- Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the second largest mainland city in the world unreachable by paved road from any other major city. For tourists seeking the geysers, hot springs, and volcanic craters that define Kamchatka, helicopter sightseeing is not a luxury but a necessity. The crash and the subsequent exposure of Vityaz-Aero's systemic failures raised difficult questions about the safety infrastructure supporting this growing tourism industry. The 22 people who died on that foggy hillside -- adventurers, guides, entrepreneurs, and crew members -- had trusted their lives to an operator that regulators later determined should not have been flying at all.
The crash site is located at approximately 53.08N, 158.02E, at an elevation of 900 meters in hilly terrain south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The area is characterized by volcanic hills, frequent fog, and low cloud ceilings -- conditions that contributed to the accident. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky / Yelizovo Airport (UHPP) is approximately 20 km to the northeast. Pilots should be aware that this region experiences rapid weather changes, with fog and low visibility developing quickly in the volcanic terrain. Helicopter operations are the primary means of tourist transport on the peninsula.