Eleven dead in chopper crash

Eleven people were feared dead today after a helicopter ferrying workers to a drilling rig crashed into the North Sea.

Desperate relatives were converging on the rescue base in Great Yarmouth, but after five people found within two hours of the crash were confirmed dead, hopes that any of the remaining passengers and crew may have survived were fading fast.

A huge rescue overnight operation centred on the crash area 25 miles north-east of the Norfolk coast. But, despite calm seas and fine visibility making for near-perfect search conditions, no trace was found of the other six who were on board the Sikorsky S76.

Great Yarmouth coastguards said the helicopter was taking workers to the Shell-owned Santa Fe Monarch drilling rig when it ditched at around 7.45 pm.

Workers on the platform saw the helicopter plunge into the sea at high speed when it was only two miles away.

They told accident investigators that the helicopter crew appeared unable to make any attempt at a controlled ditching.

The workers immediately launched rescue boats and found the five bodies.

Today the main part of the wreckage was laying in nearly 100 feet of water.

Two people on the aircraft, operated by Bristow Helicopters, were crew and the rest rig workers. It was believed three were Shell staff, three were workers employed by the construction company Amec, two were Amec subcontractors and one was an oilfield medic.

The rig support vessel, Putford Achilles sailed into Great Yarmouth harbour at 5am carrying the first bodies.

Shell UK's chairman, Clive Mather speaking at the emergency centre in Great Yarmouth said: "It's a tragic morning. The longer we continue searching for them, I have to say our hopes are fading. It is a terrible accident."

Mr Mather added: "Our main priority has been working throughout the night on the rescue and we have been in touch with all the families of the workers involved. At this stage, we have no idea how this tragedy happened.

"The accident investigation teams are assembling and there will be a full investigation by ourselves and Bristow.

"Helicopters we use are subject to the most rigorous maintenance schedules. There is simply no indicationas to why this should have happened. Bristow are very good operators with an excellent safety record. Right now we have suspended operations in the southern North Sea."

Bristow's Sikorsky S76 helicopters, based at Norwich, Norfolk, have been suspended pending an investigation. Bristow's chairman Keith Chanter said: "We deeply regret that people have lost their lives and others are missing. This was a routine flight over 25 miles that inexplicably ditched into the sea."

A spokesman for RAF Kinloss north Scotland, which is coordinating the search, confirmed it was too early to say what caused the accident. "The weather was quite benign, there was good visibility and light winds. Sea temperatures were around 15C. There is no indication at this stage that any other aircraft were in the area at the time."

Speculation was centring on mechanical failure. The helicopter is understood to have taken off from Norwich airport at about 7 o'clock last night. From there it flew to the Clipper platform, a gas rig in the Clipper field in the North Sea, and then continued with workers on board to the Santa Fe Monarch rig, which is in the Leman field.

It was minutes after from the Santa Fe Monarch that the helicopter crashed.

Bristow said the helicopter, which is one of the most tried and trusted North Sea workhorses, was fully fitted with safety equipment including flotation bags to hold it afloat long enough for people to get out, depending on conditions.

All personnel flying to and from rigs in the North Sea are trained in survival techniques should a helicopter have to ditch and everyone on board wears a survival suit designed to keep them afloat and warm in the coldest of conditions. The suits are also fitted with location beacons to help rescuers find wearers floating among the waves.

First indications, from reports of no wreckage being located at the crash scene, are that the stricken Sikorsky sunk like a stone with the missing people still trapped inside.