---

PHI copter crashes; one killed, two missing

MORGAN CITY (AP) — One person was killed and two were missing after a helicopter crashed into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Five people were onboard the helicopter when it crashed in rainy weather about 70 miles south of Morgan City at about 11:30 a.m., said Petty Officer Johnathan McCool, a Coast Guard spokesman.

An offshore supply vessel reported recovering three people, one of whom was dead, McCool said. Two other passengers on the Petroleum Helicopters Inc. helicopter were injured: One was cut in the head and the other had difficulty breathing, according to reports received by the Coast Guard. They were flown to a hospital in Houma.

The pilot and a passenger were missing as of late Wednesday afternoon, McCool said.

A Coast Guard helicopter and airplane and PHI helicopters were involved in the search. McCool said the Coast Guard would scour the waters through the night and into Thursday if necessary.

The names of the victims were not immediately released.

The helicopter was en route to Intracoastal City from an offshore platform when it went down, McCool said.

Richard Rovinelli, a spokesman for PHI, said the company had no details to release.

---

---

One person died and two others were missing after an offshore service helicopter with five people on board crashed Wednesday in the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard said.

The aircraft from PHI in Lafayette was heading from an offshore platform to Intracoastal City when it crashed in bad weather about 11:15 a.m., 70 miles south of Morgan City, Petty Officer Jonathan McCool said.
The cause for the crash was not known, he said. "We can't speculate at this point," McCool said. "We do know it was raining . .. but that technically does not cause" a helicopter to crash.

The pilot and a passenger are missing. The crew on a nearby supply boat rescued two people, and the boat's captain told the Coast Guard that a third person was dead, McCool said.

None of the people onboard was identified.

The survivors were flown to Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma by an Acadian Ambulance helicopter. A hospital spokeswoman declined to release their conditions.

The Coast Guard, which was notified of the crash at 11:30 a.m., launched a helicopter from its air station in Belle Chasse and a jet from Mobile, Ala., to search for the missing people. The aviators searched until sundown and planned to resume the search this morning.

---