Tragedy in Kamchatka: CFO of Russian Football Union among victims

Three crew members and 19 passengers were aboard the Mi-8 helicopter. Reuters reported that the wreckage was found on Sunday, and no one survived. As Russian media reported on Saturday, one of the passengers was Arseniy Zamyatin, the Chief Financial Officer of the Russian Football Union, and his wife, Polina.

Searches for the Mi-8 helicopter, with 22 people on board, had been ongoing in Kamchatka since Saturday. Weather conditions hampered the operation. The wreckage was found on Sunday, with no survivors among the 22 people on board, Reuters reported, citing Russian news agencies.

It is known that the Chief Financial Officer of the Russian Football Union (RFU), Arseniy Zamyatin, was on board with his wife, Polina. Zamyatin was on vacation in Kamchatka with his wife and planned a helicopter tour to one of the volcanoes, the union's press office informed on Saturday.

The helicopter disappeared after taking off from a base near the Vachkazhets volcano in eastern Russia's southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula. It was supposed to reach the village of Nikolayevka. Over the weekend, Kamchatka was struck by a cyclone accompanied by strong wind and rain. The causes of the crash are now being investigated.

According to preliminary data, the cause of the accident was pilot error. In poor visibility conditions, the helicopter crashed into a hill, reported by the Russian service rtvi.com, citing a source from the TASS agency.

Rescue services reported that the crew did not report any machine malfunctions. The Mi-8 is a twin-engine helicopter designed in the '60s, frequently used in Russian air transport.