Four oil workers were killed last night when the Super Puma helicopter they were travelling in ditched into the North Sea off Fitful Head in the far south of the Shetland Islands, in the very far north of the UK.
The Super Puma L2 aircraft went down in adverse weather conditions, including fog, at 6.20pm, around two miles west of Sumburgh Airport on the southern tip of Shetland as it was returning to the island from the Borgsten Dolphin platform.
The aircraft was carrying 16 workers and two crew at the time of the incident, in which it was believed to have experienced a 'catastrophic' loss of power.
Fourteen people were taken to safety during the immediate rescue response.
The dead have been named as Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland; Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin; 59-year-old Gary McCrossan, from Inverness; and George Allison, 57, from Winchester.
A major search operation, involving the coastguard, police, RAF and RNLI, was extended overnight to hunt in the darkness for those who remained missing.
This morning, Police Scotland confirmed the bodies of three people had been recovered.
The families of those affected have been informed.
Lifeboats from Aith and Lerwick on the Shetland Islands were sent to the scene of the crash and a ferry travelling between Shetland and Aberdeen - and carrying 201 passengers - also turned around to help with the rescue.
Pictured: Three men and a woman die after helicopter carrying 18 to gas platforms ditches into the North Sea near Shetland
- Super Puma helicopter hit the water off Fitful Head at 6.20pm last night
- 14 oil workers rescued from the water after RNLI lifeboats rushed to scene
- Police Scotland this morning reveal the names of four killed in the crash
[*]'The helicopter just dropped, no time to brace,' says one survivor
[*]Ferry travelling between Shetland and Aberdeen diverted to the scene
By Anthony Bond , Bill Caven, Sarah Bruce and Damien Gayle
24 August 2013
Daily Mail
Daily Mail
Four people have died after a helicopter went down in the North Sea, police confirmed this morning as they released the names of the victims.
Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland; Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin; 59-year-old Gary McCrossan, from Inverness; and George Allison, 57, from Winchester died following the incident yesterday evening.
The Super Puma L2 aircraft went down at 6.20pm, around two miles west of Sumburgh airport on Shetland as it was returning to the island from the Borgsten Dolphin platform.
The aircraft was carrying 16 workers and two crew at the time of the incident, in which it was believed to have experienced a 'catastrophic' loss of power.
Fourteen people were taken to safety during the immediate rescue response.
Speaking to Sky News, one survivor said: 'The helicopter just dropped, no time to brace. It rolled when it hit the water.'
A major search operation, involving the coastguard, police, RAF and RNLI, was extended overnight to hunt in the darkness for those who remained missing.
This morning, Police Scotland confirmed the bodies of three people had been recovered.
The families of those affected have been informed.
Lifeboats from Aith and Lerwick were sent to the scene of the crash and a ferry travelling between Shetland and Aberdeen - and carrying 201 passengers - also turned around to help with the rescue.
The Shetland Islands are the most northerly part of Britain. They were once a part of Norway but Norway pawned them to Scotland in 1468. The islanders are of Norse, not Celtic, descent and Norn - a North Germanic language most closely related to Icelandic, Faroese and Norwegian but also closely related to English - was once spoken on the islands. The islands' motto is Með lögum skal land byggja ("By law shall the land be built up").
Jim Nicholson, RNLI rescue co-ordinator, said he understands two of the bodies were recovered in the area where the helicopter crashed.
'The bodies came to the surface close to the helicopter wreckage,' he said.
'The helicopter was in a pretty inaccessible place but the lifeboat crew were able to get to them using an inflatable craft.
'It's fortunate there were not more casualties in a helicopter crash of this kind.
'There appears to have been a catastrophic loss of power which meant the helicopter suddenly dropped into the sea without any opportunity to make a controlled landing.'
The rescue team then spent hours securing the helicopter and moving it to a more accessible location where it was waiting to be loaded on to a vessel.
Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, paid tribute to all those involved in the rescue effort.
He said: 'Our thoughts at this difficult time are with the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives in this tragic incident. We also hope that those who were injured can make a full and speedy recovery.
'I would like to pay a massive tribute to all of those brave and hard-working individuals involved in the rescue effort and in treating the casualties when they were brought ashore.'
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond paid tribute to the two Scots and two Englishmen who were killed
A full investigation is already taking place, he added.
He said in a statement: 'It is still too early to know what caused this terrible tragedy, but a full investigation by the relevant authorities is already under way.
'The Scottish Government is in regular contact with all the agencies who have been involved in this rescue and recovery operation through our Resilience process.
Pat Rafferty, Scottish secretary of the Unite union, said: 'Our thoughts are with the deceased and their families. No-one should ever go to work and not come back safely to their family and friends. This is an absolute tragedy.
'This is the fifth major incident in the last four years involving Super Puma helicopters in the UK offshore industry and the second resulting in fatalities. It's unacceptable and it can't go on.
'A full investigation must now take place and the industry's helicopter operators must use every means at their disposal to demonstrate that its fleet is fit for purpose.'
An RNLI spokesman earlier said two of the bodies were recovered by the RNLI lifeboat crew from Lerwick, Shetland.
'The lifeboat crew transported the bodies to Sumburgh and we are liaising with other authorities as things develop,' he said.
'Obviously this is the news that everyone, included our lifeboat volunteers, dreaded - our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those concerned.
'We can also confirm that one of our lifeboats has also been involved in reclaiming wreckage from the scene as part of the operation.'
Saved: Rescue workers and survivors - the survivors are in yellow - emerge from a rescue helicopter
Local man Ronnie Robertson realised something was wrong when a search and rescue helicopter passed over his house.
He said: ‘This was not a controlled landing – it must have plunged from a height.
‘If it had been planned or controlled, then the helicopter would have sat up in the water and those on board rescued quickly – but this is clearly not the case here.
‘I think the chopper had come from a rig and had approached Sumburgh to refuel before carrying on its journey to Aberdeen, but something has gone very wrong as it approached Fitful Head.
‘The first I knew was when the helicopter went over my house.
‘It’s very hazy and foggy here – you could barely see 50m ahead of you.’
He added: 'The conditions have deteriorated dramatically in the last couple of hours since the incident happened.
'Judging by the way the rescue boats are bouncing about on the water, it has now become very rough which will hamper the search still further.'
It is understood that helicopters operating west off the islands regularly stop at Sumburgh to take on extra fuel. This involves flying high towards Fitful Head and then dropping down quickly.
But on this occasion it is believed the aircraft plunged faster than normal and ended up around two miles off the coast.
Frightening: One of the 14 survivors rescued from the helicopter crash yesterday is taken for medical help
At least one Northlink passenger ferry on the Aberdeen to Shetland route was diverted to the scene, along with a cargo vessel approaching Lerwick at the time.
A spokesman for Northlink ferries said: “The Scottish Coastguard are in the lead of the operation, but I can confirm that at least one of our ferries is providing assistance.
'There will definitely have been passengers aboard that ferry.'
The ferry is believed to have been travelling between Shetland and Orkney and is thought to have been carrying up to 201 passengers, who were informed over the tannoy of the drama.
The helicopter was operated by CHC and was used to take rig workers back and forward to platforms in the North Sea.
It comes just a fortnight after global company CHC re-introduced the controversial Super Puma model to its stable a year after the helicopter type was grounded due to two unexplained ditchings last year.
It is not known what type of helicopter was involved in the ditching, but it was reported last night that it may have been a Eurocopter Super Puma AS332 L2, a model that normally has a good safety record.
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