According to Yekaterina Akinina, the Mi-2 helicopter disappeared Sunday after leaving the town of Zlatoustovsk en route to Fevralsk in the Amur region.
The helicopter, rented by the mining company Rodina, was carrying 35 kilograms of gold, worth over $470,000.
Shortly after 9 A.M. Sunday the pilot told the airport control tower that all was in order. Contact was then lost.
Ten helicopters and an An-30 plane have been searching for the aircraft. According to a local emergency services official who declined to be named, the weather in the region is extremely bad.
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