Flight mechanic Ivan Kasyanov, who died on January 18 in Brovary along with the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, had a childhood dream of working in the State Emergency Service.

The man could have stayed to work in Kyiv, but he returned to Nizhyn, joined the aviation unit and made plans for his life.

About how teachers remember their student and what is known about the commander of the aircraft and the pilot - it is said in the material of Suspilny.

"I received a message from Valentina Ivanovna

, in which three words were said: 'My son

is gone ,'" said the friend of Ivan Kasyanov's mother, Valentina Ilchenko, who works at the gymnasium together with the mother of the dead boy. 

Valentina Ilchenko is a teacher of foreign literature at the 16th gymnasium in Nizhyn.

Ivan also studied here.

His

photo with a candle is in the school hall.

 And class leader Ludmila Sydorovych remembers that the boy dreamed of working in the State Emergency Service since childhood.

For this, he went a long way - he studied at the State University of Infrastructure and Technologies, then he joined the ranks of the Armed Forces, then he studied at the National Aviation University.

Since

2017, he worked for the State Emergency Service, and in 2020 he became an on-board mechanic.

"For me, this news that Vanya is no longer there is a terrible tragedy. It was a shock, because, as they say, the best are taken away," she said.

At the moment, the Nizhyn aviation detachment does not comment on the death of the crew in Brovary, arguing that it is a secret of the investigation.

Lieutenant Colonel of Civil Defense Oleksandr Nikshun, that the helicopter crew was experienced. 

"Regarding this crew, they are experienced pilots, employees of the State Emergency Service. Moreover, they have long mastered this helicopter, which, according to our data, has been operating in Ukraine since 2020, and this particular French-made helicopter has been used more than once to transport personnel of the State Emergency Service, to rescue and various operations," Nizhyn City Mayor Oleksandr Kodola said.

What is known about the commander of the aircraft and the pilot

Oleksandr Vasylenko

— aircraft commander graduated from Kharkiv Institute of Pilots, flew Mi-8, Mi-9, Mi-24.

In the middle of the 2000s, he was with a peacekeeping mission in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Participant of ATO.

Worked in the Nizhyn air force since 2011.

Konstantin Kovalenko

is a pilot of the special purpose aviation squadron.

He joined the Nizhyn aviation detachment in 2021, before that he served in the aviation unit in the Lviv region.

He was a member of ATO.

Air crash in Brovary

 On January 18, a helicopter of the State Emergency Service crashed

near a kindergarten and a house in Brovary

 , on board which was the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, First Deputy Minister Yevgeny Yenin and State Secretary Yuriy Lubkovich.

According to the police, 14 people died, including a child.

On Saturday, January 21, at the Baikovo cemetery in Kyiv, they said goodbye to the Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrskyi and the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who died in the plane crash in Brovary on January 18.

Before that, a farewell ceremony with the fallen representatives of the department was held at the National Center "Ukrainian House".

One child is among the dead.

In particular

, mother Olena Ponomarenko and little Milana died. 

We said goodbye to them today in Brovary.

The SBU is investigating three versions

: violation of flight rules, technical malfunction of the helicopter, intentional destruction. 

Read also:

  • In the capital, they say goodbye to the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who died in Brovary (photo, video)

  • Danilov told about the last text message from Monastyrskyi

  • Tragedy in Brovary: the mother of three minor children died (photo)