MUMBAI, June 28: Four people died when an ONGC helicopter crashed in the Arabian
sea on Tuesday. Three of the dead were ONGC employees and the fourth was on contractual
job. Four people have been rescued. The chopper was carrying seven passengers
and two pilots.
The Pawan Hans helicopter, a new Sikorsky, had made an emergency landing in
the sea near its destination, ONGC's Sagar Kiran rig at Mumbai High, about 50
nautical miles from the Mumbai coast at 11:45 am in inclement weather. The chopper
had taken off from Juhu helibase. It managed to stay afloat with the help of
attached floaters, helping rescuers pull out people. Floaters are attachments
arranged for offshore trips. Coast Guard ships and rig's boats are searching
for any survivors. The Navy had deployed the Seaking and ALH helicopters and
Indian Naval Ship Teg. Coast Guard aircraft also dropped life rafts for survivors.
Four people pulled out were unconscious and airlifted in a Navy chopper to
a hospital in Mumbai, where they were declared dead, an official said.
A multi-support vessel (MSV) is trying to salvage the chopper.
There have been several such mishaps in the past. In 2003, a Mi-172 helicopter
crashed off the Mumbai coast, killing 27 people. In 2018, a Pawan Hans helicopter
with seven people went down killing all.
The ONGC had hired Pawan Hans choppers for its offshore oil and gas production
operations. The oil installations are 150 km from the coast.
Pawan Hans had recently leased six Sikorsky S-76D helicopters from Milestone
Aviation Group.
