Three airlifted to safety after helicopter crashes into Gulf of Mexico

The US Coast Guard rescued three people Thursday after a helicopter crashed into the Gulf of Mexico while attempting to land on an oil rig platform.

Footage captures the dramatic moment each person was airlifted to safety, having been found on a life raft about 30 miles south of the Louisiana coast.

Coast Guard aircraft from New Orleans brought all three back to land, with one having sustained back injuries.

Three people aboard a helicopter that went down while trying to take off from a Gulf of Mexico oil platform escaped serious injury Thursday, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard in New Orleans said it received a call at 8:39 a.m. from Rotorcraft Leasing Co., which owns the helicopter, reporting the crash, which happened about 30 miles from Terrebonne Bay.

An initial Coast Guard report said the evacuees were in a life raft awaiting rescue.

A Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter from New Orleans rushed to the scene, and its crew hoisted the passengers from their life raft then took them to the Houma-Terrebonne Airport. Emergency medical personnel checked on them. One of the individuals was reported to have a back injury and, according to information gathered by The Courier and Daily Comet, at least one was transported to Terrebonne General Medical Center.

The Federal Aviation Administration logged an initial report Friday citing a preliminary cause. It says the Bell 206 L-4helicopter was trying to take off from an oil platform when one of its skids “got caught under the perimeter railing, sending the helicopter into the water.”