An investigation into a local helicopter crash in January which killed 15 people, including Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, revealed on Monday that the incident was caused by a violation of safety rules.
The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), in collaboration with foreign experts, conducted the probe and found that five officials “flagrantly violated” air traffic safety rules and instructions for the operation of air transport, the SBI said in a statement.
The bureau found that the officials of the State Service for Emergencies, the helicopter’s operator, permitted the flight despite difficult weather conditions.
Besides, the aircraft was on duty to respond to potential emergencies in the Ukrainian capital and the surrounding region and did not have permits for conducting other types of flights, the SBI said.
On Jan. 18, the EC 225 Super Puma helicopter crashed near a kindergarten in the residential district of Brovary, a town in the suburbs of Kiev, causing a fire in an area of 500 square meters.
All ten people on board the helicopter, including the Ukrainian interior minister, died in the crash. Besides, four adults and a child were killed on the ground.