Hello,
some more details that you might want to know.
First of all it is more or less comfirmed that all people in the chopper are dead and still trapped inside. Secondly, it was premature information that the chopper is lifted from the bottom of the sea, itīs not.
The pilots were Finns. A 41 years old ex frontier guard pilot (I believe that he was the captain) and a 57 years old pilot who have flown for Copterline 10 years.
Even though there are reports of storm, wheather was not a factor (most likely). It seems that there were no thunderstorms at the area, visibility was good and cloud base was not very low. The accident site is located in an area of low pressure but a satellite photo some 15 minutes after the accident shows no significant weather. It should have been a normal flight but during the cruise phase something went wrong.
Even though the company has a clean safety record it has had itīs shere of problems with the FAA. About a year ago their operating lisence was limited for only good weather operations for three months. Thats because their pilot had too much trouble at check rides. Also some under minima flying was discovered and some other things.
This is a bad day in Finnish aviation.
