Helicopter crash kills 19 in the Ukraine
A helicopter has crashed into the Black Sea, killing 19 people, a Ukrainian official said today.
A spokesman for state gas company Naftogaz said the company Mi-8 helicopter went down this morning as it was trying to land.
One person survived the crash, Valentyn Zemlyansky said.
The ITAR-Tass news agency reported that the passengers were employees of the gas company who were heading for an offshore drilling rig.
The helicopter was trying to land on the rig some 40 miles offshore. The craft hit a support pole on the rig with its tail then fell into the sea.
The Mi-8 is a workhorse helicopter used widely in civilian aviation and the military in the former Soviet Union. Crashes occur frequently and are often blamed on poor maintenance and excessive age.
Last month, a Ukrainian border guards helicopter also crashed into the Black Sea, killing 12 people.
