A helicopter carrying six people crash-landed in the ocean off the coast of western Norway on Wednesday, and all those on board were later hoisted from the sea, the country’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centres said.
Haukeland University Hospital, the region’s largest, said it had received all six patients from the accident but that their medical condition was unclear at the moment. The helicopter belonged to Bristow Norway, the company’s country manager, Heidi Wulff Heimark, told daily Stavanger Aftenblad.
Vi har mottatt nødmelding fra et helikopter vest av Bergen, og vi oppnår pr. nå ikke kontakt med helikopteret. Redningshelikopter fra Sola er i området og søker.— HRS Sør-Norge (@HRSSorNorge) February 28, 2024
Energy group Equinor, said the helicopter was a search and rescue aircraft normally serving platforms at the company’s Oseberg oil and gas field in the North Sea. The helicopter was a Sikorsky S-92 model and was on a search and rescue training mission at the time of the accident, a police spokesperson told reporters, adding it was too early to say what had caused the crash.
“We are aware of the incident and stand ready to support the investigative authorities and our customer. Safety is our top priority,” said a spokesperson for Sikorsky, a unit of Lockheed Martin. The area had been experiencing high winds at the time of the accident, a rescue service official told broadcaster TV2.
Air traffic data showed several rescue helicopters circling in the air near an island west of Bergen, Norway’s second biggest city and a busy hub for the Norwegian offshore oil and gas industry. In 2016, an Airbus, Super Puma helicopter returning from the North Sea crashed in roughly the same area, killing all 13 people aboard. The accident led to the suspension of the use of that type of helicopter by the Norwegian oil and gas industry.
(With agency inputs)
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