A statement from Halliburton said four employees had died in the helicopter accident off the coast of Norway. The crash killed 11 people on the helicopter and left two others missing.
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BP and Statoil have also suspended the use of the aircraft model, so it is unable to carry oil and gas workers.
The two pilots – a Norwegian and the Italian – were CHC Helicopter staff. He added that “the entire industry was standing together in sorrow with those who have lost their loved ones”.
“We will offer any assistance that we can”.
“We do not believe anyone can be found alive”, said Boerge Galta of the Joint Rescue Coordination Center of Southern Norway (JRCC).
The airspace around the crash site has also been closed for non-authorized aircraft, including drones, local police said.
Airbus Helicopters, a subsidiary of Airbus Group, which is what Eurocopter is now known as, said it was “deeply saddened by this tragedy”.
Authorities in Britain were sending air accident investigators to Norway to help assist because the United Kingdom has investigated several crashes involving helicopters flying to and from offshore oil fields in recent years.
Airbus Helicopters in a statement sent its condolences to the victims’ families and said it was “fully mobilised” to understand the cause of the accident.
The helicopter that crashed on Friday had been granted extended flying hours, or delayed maintenance, twice in 2015, an aviation authority official told Norwegian daily VG.
Several witnesses told Norwegian media they saw the rotor blades separating from the helicopter while still in the air.
The rotor was reportedly found on land while the fuselage was recovered from the sea. “Then I saw a big explosion”, said a local resident in the area.
“Witnesses have said the rotor of the helicopter was seen flying away from helicopter before it crashed, but I can not confirm”, Galti said. “It caught fire before it crashed”.
Following news of the incident, the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority issued an immediate security directive to ban all flights for EC225LP helicopters. It is correct that there was an application for a so-called travel-time extension.
The accident marks the first fatal accident in Norwegian offshore operations since 1997, according to the NCAA. We await further information and are following events closely.
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“We have mobilized our response team and our experts are working closely with Norwegian authorities, Airbus Helicopters and Statoil”.
