2023 Brovary helicopter crash
Helicopter crash site
Accident
Date18 January 2023
SummaryHelicopter crash, under investigation
SiteBrovary, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine
50°31′13″N 30°48′04″E / 50.52028°N 30.80111°E / 50.52028; 30.80111
Total fatalities14
Total injuries25
Aircraft

The helicopter involved (November 2020)
Aircraft typeEurocopter EC225 Super Puma
OperatorState Emergency Service of Ukraine
RegistrationF-WTBQ
Occupants10
Fatalities10
Survivors0
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities4
Ground injuries25

On 18 January 2023, a Ukrainian Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma carrying ten people, including Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky, his deputy Yevhen Yenin, and State Secretary Yurii Lubkovych, crashed into a kindergarten in Brovary, a suburb of Kyiv, Ukraine. The crash killed fourteen people, including Monastyrsky, Yenin, and Lubkovych. Four of the victims were killed on the ground, including one child.[1] Twenty-five other people were injured on the ground, including eleven children.[2][3][4][5]

Crash

According to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the officials onboard had been traveling to a combat zone when the helicopter plunged to the ground at 08:20 EET. Eyewitnesses described foggy conditions at the time of the crash, and some reported seeing the helicopter on fire, spinning with its pylon and tail rotor missing, and circling before it hit the ground. The helicopter came to rest against a local kindergarten, resulting in a fire that charred the side of the building. Search and rescue efforts ended later that day, after nearly nine hours.[7][8][9]

Twenty-five people on the ground were taken to Brovary City Hospital, of whom eight were later transferred to a specialized burn unit in Kyiv. Though none were in critical condition, the Ministry of Health later announced that six of the patients would be sent abroad for further treatment.[10] [11]

Aircraft

The helicopter involved in the crash was a Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma, also known as Airbus H225, with identification number 54. It belonged to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service and was one of the 21 model H225 helicopters delivered by France between 2018 and 2021, as part of a program to modernize Ukraine's aging Soviet aircraft fleet. Nearly half of the delivered aircraft were used, with some of the parts having a wear rate of 50%, but they were refurbished before being put into operation.[12]

Passengers and crew

Seven passengers and three crew members were aboard the helicopter when it crashed. All seven passengers were employees of the Interior Ministry, including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, his deputy Yevhen Yenin, State Secretary Yurii Lubkovych, and Monastyrsky's security chief. The aircraft was commanded by Oleksandr Vasylenko, assisted by his co-pilot Kostiantyn Kovalenko and flight mechanic Ivan Kasianov. According to the State Emergency Service, the crew was trained to perform tasks under difficult conditions.[12]

Investigation

There was no indication that the crash was anything other than an accident, although officials gave no immediate account of the cause of the crash.[2] In an address following the incident, President Zelenskyy said he had asked the SBU state security service to launch a criminal probe into the cause.[8] Several possible causes are under investigation, including a breach of flight rules, technical malfunction, and intentional destruction or sabotage of the helicopter.[13]

Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson of the Ukrainian Air Force, announced that the incident would also be investigated by a special state commission, a probe expected to take at least several weeks.[12]

On 3 August, the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine announced that five State Emergency Service employees had been charged with safety violations and negligence regarding the crash, namely the head of the service's Department of Aviation and Air Search and Rescue, its acting commander, the commander of the aviation squadron, the deputy commander for flight training, and the head of the flight safety service of the Special aviation unit from Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast.[14]

Reactions

The government appointed Ihor Klymenko, chief of the National Police of Ukraine, as acting interior minister until a new interior minister is appointed.[8][9]

Many Ukrainian, European, and American officials paid tributes to the victims and expressed condolences, including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian parliament chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk, European Council President Charles Michel, U.S. President Joe Biden, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink, and UK ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons.[7][15]

References

  1. ↑ "Ukraine helicopter crash: What we know so far". Al Jazeera. 18 January 2023. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 Waterhouse, James; Kirby, Paul (18 January 2023). "Ukraine's interior ministry leadership killed in helicopter crash". BBC News. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  3. ↑ Ogirenko, Valentyn (18 January 2023). "Ukraine's interior minister among 18 dead in helicopter crash". Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  4. ↑ Swails, Maria; Kostenko, Sophie; Tanno, Brent (18 January 2023). "Helicopter crash near Kyiv kills 18, including Ukrainian interior minister". CNN. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  5. ↑ Lovett, Ian; Malsin, Jared (18 January 2023). "Ukraine Helicopter Crash Kills Interior Minister and at Least 13 Others". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  6. ↑ "Внаслідок авіакатастрофи в Броварах загинуло керівництво МВС (додано відео)" [The leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs died as a result of the plane crash in Brovary (video added)]. npu.gov.ua. 18 January 2023. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  7. 1 2 Kramer, Andrew E.; Specia, Megan (19 January 2023). "Helicopter Crash Kills Ukrainian Minister in Blow to Wartime Leadership". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 Hunder, Max; Balmforth, Tom (18 January 2023). "Ukrainian interior minister killed in helicopter crash, Zelenskiy orders probe". Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  9. 1 2 Specia, Megan; Kramer, Andrew (19 January 2023). "Helicopter Crash in Ukraine Kills at Least 14, Including Cabinet Official". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  10. ↑ "Six injured in Brovary helicopter crash to be sent for treatment abroad". Yahoo News. 19 January 2023. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  11. ↑ Zaiets, Karina; Loehrke, Janet; Beard, Stephen J. (19 January 2023). "Helicopter crash kills senior leaders in Brovary, Ukraine: What we know". USA Today. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 Semenova, Thaisa; Khrebet, Alexander (19 January 2023). "Explainer: What we know about helicopter crash that killed children, top officials". The Kyiv Post.
  13. ↑ Koshiv, Isobel; Beaumont, Peter (18 January 2023). "Ukraine's interior minister killed in helicopter crash". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  14. ↑ Fornusek, Martin (3 August 2023). "Emergency service employees charged over helicopter crash that killed interior minister". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  15. ↑ Da Silva, Chantal; Smith, Patrick. "Ukraine's interior minister among 18 killed in helicopter crash outside Kyiv". NBC News. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
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