Amazing helicopter escape
Everyone saved after chopper forced to land in rough
seas
Fourteen people were rescued yesterday after their helicopter
was forced to land in the sea.
The Super Puma chopper was flying workers to oil rigs in the
North Sea when a warning light flashed in the cockpit. The
helicopter was forced to come down in rough seas 30 miles from
Aberdeen.
All 12 passengers and the two crew members scrambled on to a
life raft. They were then winched to safety by rescue
helicopters.
Some were flown to hospital while others were taken aboard
lifeboats. Nobody was seriously injured.
The pilots were praised for saving the lives of all those on
board with their amazing flying skills.
Landing safely in the sea is known to be one of the most
difficult flying moves for helicopters.
In April 2009 the same kind of helicopter crashed in the same
area and all 16 people on board were killed.
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Amazing helicopter escape
Lucky escape highlights dangers faced by offshore
workers
Scotland's First Minister has called for an urgent investigation
into yesterday's helicopter accident where 14 people narrowly
escaped injury after their aircraft ditched into the North Sea.
The chopper was carrying oil workers to a rig when it ran into
trouble and its pilots were forced to land in rough seas 30 miles
from Aberdeen.
Alex Salmond said it is a "very concerning" time for friends and
family of those on board the Bond Super Puma helicopter.
He added: "Incidents such as these remain very rare but do serve
as a stark reminder of the dangers faced by those offshore workers
who are required to use helicopters on a regular basis."
An almost identical incident happened in February 2009 when 18
people were rescued from the same kind of helicopter after it came
down in the sea near an oil rig.
Sadly, not all helicopter ditching incidents in Britain's
offshore oil industry have had such a fortunate outcome.
In April 2009 another Bond Super Puma had gear box problems and
crashed in the North Sea, killing 16 people - two crew members and
14 oil workers.
In December 2006 five gas workers and two pilots died when their
helicopter plunged into the Irish Sea in Morecambe Bay in
Lancashire.
In July 2002, a Sikorsky S76 helicopter was ferrying personnel
between a platform and a drilling rig, both owned by Shell, when it
ditched about 25 miles north-east of Great Yarmouth, killing all 11
on board.
In August 1981, 13 people were killed when a Wessex helicopter
crashed off the Norfolk coast.
Britain's worst helicopter disaster was in November 1986, when
45 died after a Boeing Vertol 234 Chinook crashed into the sea near
Shetland.
Lesson ideas and
suggestions
Join the Daily What News Facebook group
Click here to
watch a recording of our most recent Daily What
Newsround on Glow TV, featuring a special guest from the Scottish
SPCA.