Helicopter with 4 on board crashes in Gulf of Mexico

The U.S. Coast Guard spent hours Thursday looking the waters off Louisiana for 4 individuals 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, mentioned 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.

“To this point we have solely discovered particles and no individuals,” Hernandez mentioned.

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 mentioned.

“It’s at all times a troublesome resolution to droop a search,” Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Keefe, Coast Guard Sector New Orleans search and rescue mission coordinator, mentioned in a press release. “Our deepest sympathies and condolences exit to the household and associates throughout this troublesome time.”

One of many lacking staff is 36-year-old David Scarborough of Lizana, Mississippi, in accordance with his spouse. Lacy Scarborough instructed the Solar Herald newspaper that she is anticipating a child and that her husband just lately bought a job promotion.

She mentioned her household was praying that her husband and the others can be rescued safely.

“He loved his job and his co-workers,” Lacy Scarborough mentioned.

The helicopter went down about 10 miles (16 kilometers) offshore of Southwest Go, 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 mentioned the oil platform is operated by Houston-based Walter Oil and Gasoline. The Related Press reached out to a spokesperson for the corporate, who was not instantly accessible for remark.

Climate did not look like an element within the crash, Hernandez mentioned, as there have been no stories of storms within the space Thursday.

The Nationwide Transportation Security Board mentioned it’s investigating the crash.

Two weeks in the past, the Coast Guard rescued three individuals after a helicopter crashed off the Louisiana coast whereas making an attempt 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 Thursday.