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.