The investigation into the helicopter incident that occurred on January 18 in Brovary and led to the death of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Denis Monastirsky and the leadership of the department was completed by employees of the State Bureau of Investigation.
According to the DBI press service, the materials will soon be submitted to the court.
“In August, investigators brought charges against five officials of the State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations who violated the flight safety rules of a helicopter with the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and accompanying persons on board,” the report says.
In particular, according to them, charges were brought against:
- Head of the Aviation and Aviation Search and Rescue Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine;
- acting commander of a special aviation detachment;
- Deputy Commander for Flight Training;
- commander of an aviation squadron;
- to the head of the flight safety service of the Special Aviation Detachment of the Civil Defense Operational Rescue Service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine from the city of Nizhyn, Chernihiv region.
The investigation found that “officials committed gross violations of traffic safety rules and the operation of air transport, which led to the death of people.”
“DBI investigators reconstructed the day of the accident minute by minute, including deciphering the “black” boxes. Foreign experts were involved in the investigation, including representatives of the French company that manufactured the helicopter,” the DBI added.
In particular, it was established that in January 2023, a visit was planned to the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk regions.
“Despite the warnings of internal instructions and legal requirements, State Emergency Service officials engaged a helicopter, which was on duty to respond to potential emergencies in Kyiv and the region, to transport the delegation. The aircraft did not have permits to perform other types of flights,” the department notes.
During preparations for the flight, the crew commander was not informed of meteorological data along the entire route of the planned movement, including extremely unfavorable weather conditions over the city of Brovary.
“The crew themselves did not have the appropriate permits to fly in difficult weather conditions and did not have the necessary certificates. However, none of the officials responsible for flight safety canceled or rescheduled the flight until favorable weather conditions,” the DBR says.
Due to difficult weather conditions, the helicopter was forced to fly at an extremely low altitude, even less than the height of buildings along the route.
“The crew commander saw an obstacle - a multi-storey building and began to carry out a flyby maneuver, but rose sharply, lost orientation in space and, while completing the maneuver, due to the lack of necessary skills, collided with the ground,” the department adds.
When the helicopter fell, it damaged a kindergarten, neighboring buildings and parked cars.
In addition to high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and their accompanying persons, four women and a baby who had just arrived at kindergarten were killed in the plane crash. 31 people, including 13 children, received various injuries of varying severity.
Officials of the Aviation Administration of the State Emergency Service and the SAZ ORSCZ were informed of a suspicion of violation of flight safety rules (air transport safety), which led to the death of people and large material damage, that is, the commission of a criminal offense under Part 3 of Article 276 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The head of the flight safety service of the same detachment was charged under Part 2 of Art. 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (official inaction). The sanction of the articles provides for punishment - imprisonment for up to 10 years.
As you know, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including Minister Denis Monastirsky, his deputy Evgeny Enin and Secretary of State of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yuri Lubkovich, died as a result of a helicopter crash in Brovary.
The plane crash occurred near a kindergarten where a fire broke out. The tragedy claimed the lives of 15 people, including a child.
Later, the Office of the President stated that the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who died in the disaster in Brovary, was flying to one of the hot spots where the fighting was taking place.
