The emergency signal from the Mi-8 helicopter, which vanished from radar near Karelia, is not being received, according to a report circulated by a Russian news agency and attributed to a source within operational services. The incident has prompted a rapid, coordinated response as teams work to locate the aircraft and determine the cause of the blackout in the beacon system. (TASS)
Officials released a statement noting that there was no signal from the helicopter’s emergency beacon. This absence of a distress signal is unusual for standard beacon behavior and has heightened concern among search teams that rely on beacon data to triangulate an aircraft’s position in challenging terrain. The absence of a beacon signal does not necessarily mean the emergency system failed outright; it can also reflect issues with signal propagation, interference, or the beacon’s own power source, which investigators are carefully assessing as part of the ongoing investigation. (TASS)
In parallel, an interlocutor for the agency indicated that the emergency signal itself was not interrupted, suggesting that the beacon may have operated briefly before losing transmission, or that the signal was detected at a distance but failed to reach the central monitoring network due to environmental or technical factors. This nuance matters for understanding the full timeline of events and guiding the search operation, as authorities compare beacon activity with radar data to establish whether the helicopter attempted a controlled emergency landing or simply lost altitude and vanished from screens. (TASS)
Earlier, Telegram channel 112 reported that the Mi-8 helicopter, assigned to the rescue center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, had lost communication while en route over Karelia and disappeared from radar. Preliminary data place the aircraft on a route from Petrozavodsk to Vytegra with three crew members aboard, and investigators are reviewing flight logs, air traffic records, and weather conditions to reconstruct the flight path and identify any anomalies that could explain the disappearance. The information underscores the seriousness of the situation and the need to verify each datum as search teams spread across the region coordinate air and ground efforts. (TASS)
Subsequent updates from the Russian Ministry of Emergencies confirmed the disappearance and announced that search and rescue operations were underway in the Karelia region. Officials indicated there remains a possibility the helicopter could make an emergency landing roughly 18 kilometers from Vytegra, which would require careful ground and aerial search patterns to account for varied terrain, including forests, lakes, and marshy areas common to the region. Rescue units are employing a mix of visual reconnaissance, radio communication checks, and beacon locators to maximize the chances of a successful locate-and-assist operation, all while maintaining safety protocols for crews operating in demanding conditions. (TASS)
There were no immediate details linking this incident to a previous event in Bishkek involving a military helicopter, and authorities have continued to focus on the Karelia situation as the primary accession point for information gathering and response coordination. As the search unfolds, officials emphasize the importance of cross-checking data from multiple sources to build a coherent picture of what happened and to determine if any mechanical, human, or external factors played a role in the aircraft’s disappearance. (TASS)