Fifteen people recovered from sea after helicopter ditched near Shetland, prompting major search and rescue operation
The bodies of two of the three people missing after a helicopter crash off Shetland have been recovered, a lifeboat crew member has told the BBC. Fifteen people were rescued.
Coxswain Bruce Leask said the the bodies were recovered by lifeboat after being spotted in the water from a rescue helicopter.
The ditched helicopter, which was ferrying workers from an oil platform in the North Sea, was found broken into several pieces up against the face of rocks.
Leask said the Aith lifeboat had managed to tow the wreckage off the rocks.
The coastguard, RAF, police and local lifeboats had worked together to rescue those on board the helicopter, which ditched off the southern tip of the island on Friday evening.
The Department of Transport deployed a team from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), which is charged with investigating civil aircraft accidents, after details of the incident came through.
The helicopter, which had 16 passengers and two crew on board, had been on an approach to Sumburgh, Shetland's main airport, at 6.20pm when it lost contact with air traffic control. It had been flying from the Borgsten Dolphin oil platform in the North when it went down.
Two lifeboats from Lerwick and Aith joined helicopters from the coastguard and RAF Lossiemouth in the search operation, which also involved a diverted ferry and a freight ship.
Poor visibility from misty weather conditions, coupled with strong tides and the location of the helicopter near cliffs made the rescue operation hazardous.
A rescue helicopter brought nine people back to Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland islands, where one person was taken away on a stretcher while the rest walked off.
"The people that were involved are in varying stages of injury; no one has walked away from this without a scratch," a coastguard spokeswoman said.
The aircraft was operated by CHC Helicopter, a company that specialises in transport to and from oil and gas platforms.
In a statement, the company confirmed it was one of their aircraft that had gone down. "We can confirm that an L2 aircraft has landed in the water, approximately two miles west of Sumburgh. The aircraft was on approach to Sumburgh airport at approximately 6.20pm when contact was lost with air traffic control," the company said. "We can confirm there were 16 passengers on board, and two crew."
The police declared a major incident after the crash and the airport was closed to allow the emergency services to deal with the aftermath.
After the crash, the helicopter's life rafts were found empty and some wreckage from the aircraft had washed up at the southern end of Sumburgh, according to the coastguard.
All of those who were rescued were taken to Gilbert Bain hospital in Lerwick.
The crash was described as a "very serious matter" by the RMT union, which represents maritime transport workers.
Jake Molloy, the Aberdeen-based regional organiser, said there had been concern among members after a number of incidents involving another model of helicopter that had been involved in two North Sea ditchings.
"We need to wait to determine what forced the aircraft down. Quite clearly it's the last thing we need at this point in time," Molloy said.
"I would understand completely if people did not want to get aboard these aircraft. In my opinion these aircraft should not be flying until we establish the circumstances to this very serious incident."
Northlink Ferries said it had diverted a passenger ferry and a freight ship to help with the rescue. "We believe there are 201 passengers on board the Hjatland [ferry], which was on its way to Orkney to pick up more passengers," a spokesperson said.
Jim Nicholson, the RNLI's rescue co-ordinator, said the helicopter was in an "inaccessible" position on Friday night and the weather was poor in deteriorating light.
"There was a fresh wind, not overly strong, visibility is not particularly good and it was misty in the area, but I doubt if that would have had any impact on causing whatever happened to the helicopter," Nicholson said.
The Scottish secretary of the Unite union, Pat Rafferty, said the crash illustrated the "precarious nature of the transportation of workers to and from offshore platforms".
"Our immediate thoughts are with those people and their families and we can only hope for good news, although as time goes on the situation becomes more worrying," Rafferty said.
"Fifteen people have thankfully been rescued and accounted for, unfortunately some with injuries, and their rescue is testimony to the bravery and skills of the rescue services."
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland offered her prayers to those involved. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all those involved in the Super Puma helicopter crash off Shetland and especially those waiting news of their loved ones," the Right Reverend Lorna Hood said.
CHC set up a helpline for concerned relatives following the crash and the company's incident management team had been put into action.
The helicopter involved in the ditching was the L2 variant of the Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma. CHC have 36 of the aircraft in its fleet.
Last year, two helicopters ditched in the North Sea six months apart. All passengers and crew were rescued in both incidents, which were found to be caused by gearbox problems.
Area has long history of aviation accidents
The worst North Sea crash was in 1986 when 45 people died in a Chinook helicopter accident.
The twin-rotor aircraft, whose three crewmen were ferrying 44 oil workers from Shell platforms in the Brent fields, crashed into the North Sea only two miles and one minute's flying time from Sumburgh airport, Shetland.
In April 2009, two crew and 14 passengers on board a Super Puma helicopter died after a "catastrophic failure" of the gearbox caused it to fall into the sea 11 miles off the coast of Peterhead.
That flight had been operated by the Bond company. Just six weeks earlier, a Bond Super Puma with 18 people on board ditched in the North Sea as it approached a production platform owned by BP. Everyone survived.
In May 2012, 14 people were rescued after a Super Puma EC 225 ditched off the coast of Aberdeen and 19 people were rescued after the same model of helicopter, operated by CHC, the company involved in Friday night's incident, experienced difficulties off the coast of Shetland in October 2012.
In 1990, six men died when a Sikorsky helicopter struck the Brent Spar oil storage platform in the North Sea.
In 1992, 11 men were killed when a helicopter crashed during a 200-metre flight, taking workers from Shell's Cormorant Alpha rig to an accommodation barge nearby.
Six people on board survived the crash. One was found a mile from the crash site.
In 1995, after their helicopter was hit by a bolt of lightning, 18 men had to endure huge waves and gales before being rescued. They had been travelling from Aberdeen to the Brae Field, 150 miles off the Scottish coast.
Back in 1988, a Sikorsky S-61N ditched into the sea en route from a drilling rig 70 miles off north-east Scotland. Rescue teams managed to save all 13 passengers and crew on board. Press Association
