New helicopter deployed in North Sea by CHC. Here operated by Norsk
Helicopter passenger leaves hospital
The sole passenger aboard Rotocraft Leasing’s Bell 206-L1 helicopter which had to ditch into US Gulf of Mexico watersafter taking off from a fixed platform has been released from the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital in Galveston.
The pilot is still at UTMB undergoing treatment, according to Rotorcraft.
Both men sustained back injuries when their aircraft was forced down into the water on 1 November.
According to accounts from the Minerals Management Service, Coast Guard, and Rotorcraft, the two men were aboard the Bell chopper when it lifted off the platform helideck at High Island Block A-442 around 10:40 am local time.
The MMS said the aircraft suddenly lost power and was “forced to make an emergency water landing” next to the platform about 75 miles off the Texas coast.
According to Rotorcraft, the helicopter suffered a “mechanical malfunction” associated with air-fuel controls upon take-off, which caused the engine to stall.
The pilot managed to deploy emergency floats and landed flat, allowing the pilot and his passenger to disembark aboard life rafts.
Supply vessel Tiffany Louisa rescued the two men from the rafts.
They were later air-lifted by a Coast Guard helicopter and taken to UTMB.
The helicopter was recovered intact and taken to shore for investigation by Rotorcraft and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The platform’s operations are run by Island Operating Company, an offshore production management contractor.