Twelve Others Injured In Training Accident Caught On Tape

A simulated rescue operation turned tragically real Thursday in the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk. A video crew could only watch helplessly as a Russian Mi-14 helicopter impacted the water during a training exercise, killing one of the 13 people onboard.

The helicopter was part of a joint oil spill and rescue exercise conducted with Russian and Japanese forces off the Russian island of Sakhalin, north of Hokkaido, according to Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov to Reuters.

CNN showed the video of the Mi-14 as, after orbiting for several seconds, the helo dropped into the sea from about 20 feet above. The amphibious helicopter landed flat, and bobbed in the waters for several seconds before its tail lifted up and pitched the nose into the water.

As the nose dropped, the spinning rotor blades impacted the water... destroying the helicopter.

All 13 people onboard the Mi-14 -- identified by Beltsov as five crew members and eight rescuers with Russia's civil aviation agency -- were rescued from the wreckage. Three were injured -- and one of them, a pilot, died on the way to the hospital.

At least some of those rescued were taken aboard a Japanese ship participating in the exercise. Russian news agencies report Japanese divers were involved in the rescue operation, and Russia's RIA-Novosti reported at least one person was pulled from the wreckage by them.

ITAR-Tass says the exercises involved seven Russian ships and four helicopters, as well as three ships and one helicopter from Japan.

FMI: www.avia.ru/english/join/faar.shtml