Helicopter with 4 on board crashes in Gulf of Mexico

The U.S. Coast Guard spent hours Thursday looking out the waters off Louisiana for 4 folks on board a helicopter that crashed whereas departing an oil platform.

The helicopter’s pilot and three oil staff went into the Gulf of Mexico about 8:40 a.m. CST, stated Petty Officer Jose Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard’s eighth District headquartered in New Orleans. Crews in a ship and a helicopter had discovered no signal of them by night.

“So far we’ve only found debris and no people,” Hernandez stated.

The Coast Guard suspended the search at round 6:15 p.m. native time. Crews searched an space of roughly 180 sq. miles for 8 hours, the Coast Guard stated.

“It is always a difficult decision to suspend a search,” Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Keefe, Coast Guard Sector New Orleans search and rescue mission coordinator, stated in a press release. “Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the family and friends during this difficult time.”

One of the lacking staff is 36-year-old David Scarborough of Lizana, Mississippi, in response to his spouse. Lacy Scarborough instructed the Sun Herald newspaper that she is anticipating a child and that her husband not too long ago obtained a job promotion.

She stated her household was praying that her husband and the others could be rescued safely.

“He enjoyed his job and his co-workers,” Lacy Scarborough stated.

The helicopter went down about 10 miles (16 kilometers) offshore of Southwest Pass, a delivery channel on the mouth of the Mississippi River southeast of New Orleans. Helicopters routinely transport staff to and from oil platforms within the Gulf.

Hernandez stated the oil platform is operated by Houston-based Walter Oil and Gas. The Associated Press reached out to a spokesperson for the corporate, who was not instantly obtainable for remark.

Weather did not seem like an element within the crash, Hernandez stated, as there have been no reviews of storms within the space Thursday.

The National Transportation Safety Board stated it’s investigating the crash.

Two weeks in the past, the Coast Guard rescued three folks after a helicopter crashed off the Louisiana coast whereas trying to land on an oil rig platform. That crash occurred Dec. 15 south of Terrebonne Bay, roughly 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of the world the Coast Guard was looking out Thursday.