One killed as Russian helicopter crashes into sea

A Russian helicopter crashed into the Sea of Okhotsk during joint rescue exercises with Japan today, killing one of the 13 people on board.

The Mi-14 helicopter went down off the Russian island of Sakhalin, north of Japan’s Hokkaido, when one of its rotor blades hit the water during exercises simulating an emergency response to an oil spill and aid to stricken ships, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov.

All 13 people, passengers and crew, were rescued from the aircraft, but three were injured and one of them, a pilot, died on the way to a hospital on shore, Beltsov said.

He said five crew members and eight rescuers from Russia’s civil aviation agency had been on board the helicopter when it went down.

Some of those rescued were taken aboard a Japanese vessel participating in the exercises, and Japanese divers were involved in the rescue operation, Russian new agencies reported.

According to RIA-Novosti, Japanese divers pulled at least one person from the stricken aircraft.

The exercises involve seven ships and four helicopters from the Russian side and three ships and one helicopter from the Japanese side, according to ITAR-Tass.