Kamov Ka-32A11BC crash near near Zhongshan Station, Antarctica

The Ka-32 was flying shuttle runs between the expedition ship Xue Long and Zhongshan Station, normally hovering rather than landing to unload. On the seventh flight of the final round the first officer asked to stop for the lavatory and the captain agreed to put down at the station, but after unloading changed his mind and looked for a temporary landing site outside it. Finding an area apparently free of crevasses and sufficiently level, he descended at a constant 600 feet per minute. The helicopter touched down at about 2.2g and tipped onto its side, injuring the first officer. Rescuers reached them fifty minutes later. The captain, aged 60, had 11,386 hours with 87 on type; the first officer, 21, had 923 hours with 103 on type. The investigation found the pilots had not adequately studied or prepared for landing at an uninvestigated site; that the lack of reference points and their failure to refer to instruments made altitude hard to judge; that rotor downwash raised loose snow shortly before touchdown, further obscuring height and sink rate; and that their flying hours that day exceeded duty limits, which may have impaired judgement.