The Accident Investigation Board of Norway (AIBN) has issued its preliminary report on the October 26 crash of a Russian-registered Mil Mi-8AMT that crashed offshore near Barentsburg on October 26 that killed all eight aboard. The wreckage  was recovered from a depth of 686 feet 1.1 nm off the coastline northeast of Kapp Heer on November 4 and transported to Stavanger. 

Despite the harsh maritime climate in which it was operating, the accident helicopter was not equipped with flotation devices, life rafts, or survival suits, the AIBN found. Life jackets apparently were not used and all but one was recovered from beneath the helicopter's seats. The remaining life jacket was found on the seabed separate from the wreckage along with the only body recovered to date. No bodies were found inside the helicopter, and the AIBN said it had “reason to believe that all persons on board evacuated the helicopter before it sunk.”

The cockpit voice recorder (CVR), flight data recorder (FDR) and GPS units were recovered with the wreckage and analyzed. Only one of the two GPS units contained data from the last flight. The FDR was severely damaged and its memory unit was missing and not recovered. Neither the FDR nor the CVR were equipped with underwater locator beacons.

Preliminary CVR analysis indicates that the crew did not note any anomalies before impact and did not make any unusual communications with air traffic control and last communicated with ATC five miles out from intended landing at Barentsburg and was declared missing 24 minutes later. Rescue helicopters arrived on scene 42 minutes after that. Wreckage analysis suggests that the helicopter struck the water relatively flat, tail low. Visibility in the area at the time of the accident was reported as poor.