OTKES on Thursday published its preliminary report into the accident, which killed five Estonians, though its exact cause is not yet known and authorities are continuing their investigations.

Lead investigator Janne Kotiranta said that the two helicopters had been flying close to each other ahead of the collision, switching places between being lead aircraft and trailing. They were not, however, flying in formation in the strict sense.

"In formation flying, the shape of the formation and the distance between members remain in the agreed configuration throughout the flight. All of this is coordinated by the formation leader, who is responsible for that throughout the entire flight. Roles and distances are defined before the flight and get adhered to," Kotiranta said.

Kotiranta said that immediately before the collision, a red-liveried helicopter was flying to the left of a black-painted aircraft. The red helicopter rolled to the right, in a northerly direction towards the Eura airfield in central Finland. However, the black helicopter continued its northwesterly trajectory, leading to the collision – which sheared off both the tail sections and main rotors of both craft.

The collision took place at 12:34 p.m. on Saturday May 17. The two helicopters had departed from Tallinn and were carrying a total of five people, including pilots, all of whom died.

At the time of the collision, the helicopters were flying at an altitude of around 200 meters.

The investigation is being hampered by the absence of a black box recording device in either helicopter.

The investigation into the accident is to continue into next year, and Finnish investigators are cooperating with French authorities, who have access to state-of-the-art tech.

The accident killed wind energy businessman Oleg Sõnajalg, businessman Priit Jaagant, Jaagant's wife Lillit, and motorsports competitors Tiit Kuusk and Mihkel Kapp.

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