Six Rescued After Helicopter Crashes Offshore Norway

OSLO, Feb 28 (Reuters) – A helicopter carrying six people crash landed in the ocean off the coast of western Norway on Wednesday, and all those on board were later hoisted from the sea, the country’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centres said.

Haukeland University Hospital, the region’s largest, said it had received all six patients from the accident but that their medical condition was unclear at the moment.

The helicopter belonged to Bristow Norway VTOL.N, the company’s country manager, Heidi Wulff Heimark, told daily Stavanger Aftenblad.

Bristow Norway transports crew to and from oil and gas platforms in the North Sea.

It was not immediately clear which type of helicopter was involved. Bristow was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

The area had been experiencing high winds at the time of the accident, a rescue service official told broadcaster TV2.

Air traffic data showed several rescue helicopters circling in the air near an island west of Bergen, Norway’s second biggest city and a busy hub for the Norwegian offshore oil and gas industry.

In 2016, an Airbus Super Puma helicopter returning from the North Sea crashed in roughly the same area, killing all 13 people aboard. 

The accident led to the suspension of the use of that type of helicopter by the Norwegian oil and gas industry. 

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Nerijus Adomaitis; editing by Gwladys Fouche and Sandra Maler)

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