The day before, the plane crash in Brovary shook the whole country. Experts are considering different versions of the helicopter crash, including a malfunction of the aircraft.
You need to understand that there are certain norms and standards that require certain procedures, studies and tests before one or another object aviation equipment is allowed to operate. Aviation expert Bogdan Dolince said this Channel 24.
What is known about the reliability of the Super Puma
It is known that the Super Puma model will soon turn 20 years old. The helicopter was officially certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA in 2004. The helicopter has all the necessary certificates for flights in the EU, USA, Canada, Japan and other countries of the world. It meets all existing flight safety requirements.
There were no external factors that required the operation of this helicopter to be stopped. Some countries have decided not to use it anymore, but this is exclusively their right, the expert says.
Previously, there were 4 incidents with this aircraft, some of them related to technical issues. After any incident, emphasizes Dolince, special safety certificates are issued, which define a list of measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Even those problems that existed in 2008 and 2010, after appropriate investigations and new tests, should have been eliminated in all aircraft, otherwise they would not have been allowed for further operation, the aviation expert emphasized.
From It is known from public sources that some of the vehicles that Ukraine purchased for the needs of the State Emergency Service were in use before. We are talking about a service life of 5 to 8 years.
In fact, these are very young cars. If we are talking about aviation technology, then age is secondary. But it is inefficient to use ships that are 25-30 years old from an economic point of view, – said Bogdan Dolintse.
Before this period, no one looks at age, he continued, and after that it becomes more expensive to own such an aircraft or helicopter , and, as a rule, they are updated with more modern ones, which are cheaper to operate. From the point of view of actual age, it is primarily the flight hours and the number of takeoffs and landings that are estimated. These are the characteristics that really characterize the condition of an aircraft.
There may be a situation when the aircraft is 2 years old, and it has already flown tens of thousands of hours, or maybe when it is 10 years old, and only 200 hours have flown on it. These two machines are in a completely different condition,” Dolince stated.
According to him, there are corresponding regulatory requirements for each aircraft or helicopter. Depending on the flying hours, various checks, in-depth analysis of equipment and replacement of spare parts are carried out to ensure the safety of the aircraft.
“As a rule, in aviation, what happens is not waiting for the moment when something fails, but replacing according to the hourly schedule of certain spare parts,” says the aviation expert.
Why the State Emergency Service helicopter was flying very low
According to Dolince, the flight path of the helicopter is developed in advance and agrees, in particular, with the air traffic control authorities accompanying it.
Why this or that route was chosen and agreed upon is a question, on the one hand, for air traffic providers, and, on the other hand, for the current protocols and procedures for performing flights and transportation of top officials, Dolince explained.
There are relevant instructions, both in peacetime and wartime. Of course, additional requirements could have been introduced during the war, the expert emphasizes, because enemy air defense systems can monitor our airspace. Therefore, there is always a risk of using air-to-air capabilities when long-range radar systems can detect targets and launch missiles. certain conditions, – notes the aviation expert.
He added that there is no ban on helicopter flights over populated areas. There are certain restrictions for private pilots, civil aviation. State aviation flights may be carried out, in particular, for special tasks, such as the transport of the seriously wounded. Landing can be made on specially equipped airstrips, for example, on the roofs of individual hospitals.
“During 2020-2021, small helicopters could be seen delivering donor organs for patients who need transplantation. This procedure worked out for a long time, there were no problems with it,” summed up Bogdan Dolince.
Helicopter crash in Brovary: main story
- On January 18, a State Emergency Service helicopter crashed in Brovary, Kyiv region. The tragedy occurred near a kindergarten with 73 children.
- On board the aircraft were the top leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in particular Minister Denis Monastyrsky. Unfortunately, all passengers of the helicopter died.
- The State Emergency Service reported that as of 15:45, 14 people had died, including 1 child. In addition, 25 Ukrainians were injured as a result of the crash, 11 of them were children.
- The exact cause of the air crash is still unknown, but the SBU is considering several versions, in particular, a violation of flight rules by the crew and a malfunction of the helicopter. We are talking about a possible planned crime that led to the death of people.
- Speaker of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat said that the investigation could take a long time. According to him, this practice exists not only in Ukraine, but all over the world. In fact, they assemble every detail of the helicopter.
