Four die after ONGC helicopter makes emergency landing in Arabian Sea
Those who died were found unconscious after they were rescued.
Four persons died after a Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited helicopter they were travelling in made an emergency landing near a rig in the Arabian Sea, PTI reported.
There were seven passengers and two crew members on the helicopter.
In a swiftly coordinated maritime life saving operation in Arabian Sea, prudent coordination amidst stakeholders resulted in accounting of all 9 pax of the ill fated @ONGC_ Pawan Hans. Alert eyes and prompt response at the western seaboard’s concerted efforts resulted in #SAR ops pic.twitter.com/O62ARY5GEv
— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) June 28, 2022
The helicopter managed to stay afloat with the help of the attached floaters for some time, helping rescuers pull out all the nine persons, a company official said, according to PTI.
Four of them were unconscious and were airlifted to a Mumbai hospital where they were declared dead, the official added.
The dead have been identified as Mukesh Patel, Vijay Mandloi, Satyambad Patra and Sanju Francis, the Hindustan Times reported, citing an unidentified official.
Three of them were ONGC employees while the fourth one was hired on a contract by the oil company.
It was not clear why the chopper had to make an emergency landing even as the Indian Coast Guard said in a tweet around 1.30 pm that it crashed off the coast of Mumbai.
ONGC has several rigs and installations in the Arabia Sea that are used to produce oil and gas from reservoirs lying below the seabed.