Azernews.Az

The dead bodies of both oil workers who were on board the helicopter of Azerbaijan`s state airline AzAL that crashed into the Caspian Sea on Sunday have been recovered, according to Maharram Safarli, the company`s spokesman.
According to him, the bodies of crane specialist Viktor Mastavenko, an employee of SOCAR-AQS Korvet firm, and Rafig Nematov, a diver from the Caspian Sea Diving-Rescue Operations Department, were taken out of the water on Wednesday night. The two men were considered missing.
Safarli said changing weather conditions and powerful wind have impeded recovering the remains of the crashed helicopter from the water depth of 85-90 meters. Machinery at the disposal of all relevant agencies is awaiting weather conditions to stabilize.
The Prosecutor General`s Office has launched a criminal case over the accident.
The causes of the crash will be determined after a scrutiny is completed and the "black box" is found.
The Russian-made Mi-8 helicopter crashed at around 4.30 p.m. near the Gunashli field, which is part of the major Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) offshore oil fields. Four other people who were on board were rescued.
This is the second helicopter of Azerbaijan Airlines that has crashed into the sea in the past two years. Another Mi-8 plummeted into the Caspian in October 2007, killing four crew members and two employees of the state oil company SOCAR.
Manufacturing of Mi-8 helicopters started in the early 1960. The two-engine machines have been widely used ever since in over 50 countries for both civilian and military purposes.