Four people have died after a helicopter ditched in the Arabian Sea Tuesday morning, the state oil company of India has confirmed.
The aircraft, carrying nine people, was being flown by India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) when it made an emergency landing near a platform in the Arabian Sea.
All nine were rescued from the sea, a mile off the Sagar Kiran rig, ONGC said, however four were unconscious by the time they reached its base in Mumbai and were later pronounced dead.
“ONGC deeply mourns this tragic loss of lives; ONGC is reaching out to the affected families and extending all possible support,” the company said.
All 9 persons onboard helicopter were rescued. Unfortunately, four of them, brought unconscious to the Mumbai base and taken to the hospital, lost the battle of life. #ONGC deeply mourns this loss. https://t.co/ljfmDesV3K
— Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) (@ONGC_) June 28, 2022
The circumstances behind the incident off the west coast of India are not yet clear, but reports suggest the helicopter was able to deploy floats used for emergency landings on water.
The Times of India has reported that the aircraft is believed to be a new Sikorsky S-76D operated by the government-owned helicopter service provider Pawan Hans.
According to another news daily, the Economic Times, the passengers included six ONGC personnel and one contractor.
The rescue operation included vessels and aircraft from both the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.
In a series of tweets earlier in the day, ONGC said its Malviya-16 vessel had managed to pick up four people, while a fifth was secured by a rescue boat dispatched from the nearby Sagar Kiran jack-up platform.
The positioning of these vessels suggests the incident occurred around 80 miles north west of Mumbai.
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