A Briton is among 13 people killed in a helicopter crash near the city of Bergen in Norway, the UK Foreign Office has confirmed.
Police spokesman Morten Kronen said the Eurocopter EC225LP was "totally smashed" in the crash in the North Sea.
The aircraft had its maintenance servicing delayed twice, according to Norway's Civil Aviation Authority.
A witness told Norwegian media that the helicopter's rotor was seen flying away from the helicopter before it crashed.
Wreckage of the rotor was found lying onshore, up to 300m away from the rest of the helicopter.
"While I looked up, the rotor loosened and disappeared towards the north," John Atle Sekkingstad told local newspaper Bergens Tidende.
"After that, the helicopter turned north and I saw fire at the top of the helicopter, where the rotor had been attached. It caught fire before it crashed."
Eleven Norwegians and an Italian were also on the flight, which crashed close to the country's west coast as it transported workers from a North Sea offshore oil field.
Search operations which had hoped to find any remaining survivors have now ended. Eleven bodies have been recovered.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have offered our support to the family of a British national who has sadly died in a helicopter crash in Bergen, Norway.
"Our thoughts are with all those affected. We will remain in contact with local authorities."
Accident investigators from Britain are being sent to help assist with the inquiry.
The UK and Norwegian Civil Aviation Authorities have since imposed flying bans on the model of aircraft involved in the crash.
Weather conditions at the time of the crash were normal.
State-owned Statoil, which operates the Gullfaks B platform which the helicopter was flying from, have stopped production at the site.
Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg has described the news as "horrible".
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar