Reuters
One Dead, 25 Missing in Indian Helicopter Crash
Mon August 11, 2003 05:52 AM ET
BOMBAY (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and 25 were missing after a helicopter crashed off India's western coast Monday as it was ferrying employees of the state-run oil company from an oil rig.
A spokeswoman for India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which was using the helicopter, said three people had been rescued from the sea and taken to hospital. Indian navy, coast guard and ONGC personnel were searching for survivors.
"It was a very short flight of about 22 miles from the oil rig to the helicopter base on shore for a crew change," Narayani Mahil, ONGC spokeswoman in Bombay, told Reuters. The helicopter took off from a platform in the Neelam oil field, about 100 kilometers from the Bombay coast, at 12:15 p.m. (2:45 a.m.), ditching into the sea within three minutes, she said.
The reason for the crash was not known, Mahil said.
The 29 people on board included 22 ONGC employees, three contract workers and four crew members.
ONGC, India's largest exploration company, produces two-thirds of its oil at its Bombay High offshore fields. The aircraft, an MI-172 Russian helicopter, belonged to the privately owned MESCO Airlines and was chartered by ONGC, another spokesman for the company said.