Today at about 10 o’clock in the morning on the Nikolsky branch of the Northern Dvina in the Tsiglomen area, a hovercraft capsized. This was reported to the rescue service by an eyewitness who watched the craft from the shore. Rescuers from the central rescue station on the Patrol aerobot were sent to the scene.
When examining the place of the sinkhole, a navigator with no signs of life was found. Presumably, this is a resident of one of the island villages. According to preliminary data, while trying to cross the ship’s passage (20 meters of open water with small ice floes along the edges), the vessel caught the ice floe and turned upside down in cylinders.
Rescuers in wetsuits swam over a strip of clear water and examined the boat. In the flooded cabin, they found the body of a man, he was evacuated. The boat was secured with ropes, pulled up to solid ice, turned over and dragged to the shore, where it was handed over to the police.
Most likely, the death of the man came as a result of drowning. Even if after overturning the person remained alive and did not lose consciousness, it is almost impossible to get out of the cramped cabin, sandwiched by ice floes, and even upside down.
The airboat consisted of two voluminous cylinders with a frame, a plywood platform, a seat and a cramped single cabin. A motor and a propeller were installed on it. In the manufacture of the vehicle, according to rescuers, design errors were made, which led to overturning.
