The cause of the crash of the medical helicopter in the Nizhny Novgorod region has been established.

      On May 22, 2026, at 09:32, Incidents: The Interstate Aviation Committee has completed the investigation into the accident of a medical helicopter in the Nizhny Novgorod region in October 2024. The report has been published on the agency's website.

      Recall that the Ansat helicopter RA-20101, owned by JSC "NSSA," made a hard landing in the area of the settlement of Malaya Ovsanka in the Semyonovsky district.

      There were five people on board: two crew members, two medical workers, and a patient. As a result of the incident, four people were injured, and the aircraft sustained serious damage.

      According to the IAC, during cruise flight at a speed of about 200 km/h, the tail gearbox housing failed. This led to the loss of torque transmission to the tail rotor, after which the helicopter began to spin uncontrollably to the left and collided with the ground.

      The gearbox failure occurred due to excessive stresses in its housing. These arose after the tail rotor became unbalanced: elements of one of its blades detached from the spar under the influence of operational loads. The cause was poor bonding of the part during production.

      The committee also noted that the existing procedures and methods for controlling the adhesive joints of the blades—both at the manufacturing stage and during operation—did not allow for timely detection and elimination of defects.

      It was previously reported that Nizhny Novgorod observer pilot Alexey Astafyev died in a plane crash in the Omsk region. The NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" has channels on Telegram and MAX. Subscribe to stay updated on major events, exclusive materials, and operational information.

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