Four Killed When Offshore Services Helicopter Ditches In North Sea [UPDATE]

Updated: August 26, 2013 (Originally published August 23, 2013)

Update 2: Police say there was a fourth person killed, BBC reports. The update said that three of the four bodies have been recovered. Police in Scotland have now confirmed 14 others have been rescued.

WATCH: RNLI Crews Recover Helicopter Wreckage

Update: BBC reports that the bodies of the 3 people missing following the crash have been found.

Three people are still missing after a Super Puma helicopter carrying passengers from a North Sea drilling rig ditched into the sea west of the Shetland Islands.

The helicopter was carrying 16 passengers and 2 crew when it went down at about 6:20 p.m. local time approximately two miles west of Sumburgh Airport, located on the southern tip of Shetland.

An update from the U.K.’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said that the Shetland Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre was notified at 6.30 p.m. by the Air Rescue Coordination Centre that they had lost contact with the Super Puma helicopter traveling from the Borgsten Dolphin semi-submersible drilling rig to Sumburgh. The Borgsten Dolphin is operated by Total SA.

The update said that so far 15 people have been accounted for and 3 people are still missing.

At least three helicopters and two RNLI lifeboats are involved in the search, along with a ferry that was initially rerouted to the scene.

The U.K.’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it has been notified of the incident and has deployed a team to investigate.

The helicopter is operated by CHC. In a statement, the company confirmed that there “has been an incident involving one of our aircraft in the North Sea” and that “the appropriate authorities have been informed and the company’s Incident Management Team is being mobilised,” according to Sky News.

Sky News reports that the helicopter was a Eurocopter Super Puma AS332 L2.

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