UPDATE, MAY 13, 2017: The Norwegian Accident Investigation Board (NAIB) concludes that a loose cover on deck caused the accident off Bacarella. In a statement, NAIB says, “As the helicopter was coming in for landing, the yacht camera shows a cover being lifted up in the air by the main rotor downdraft.” That cover was for a new fueling station on the same deck. “The pilot has explained that he observed the cover moving and attempted to avoid it by initiating a climb,” NAIB adds. “The cover hit the main rotor, and control over the helicopter was apparently lost. It rotated around its vertical axis while moving backwards, and struck the sea tail first.”
Read on for our original article.
Last evening in Norway, a helicopter transporting three people to the megayacht Bacarella crashed into the water. One person was reportedly critically injured, but all were rescued.
According to Norwegian newspaper reports, the 196-foot (59.74-meter) Bacarella was anchored in the Sandviken area of Bergen. One eyewitness who shared video with the newspaper VG says that something appeared to fly up into the helicopter’s rotors from the deck as it was attempting to land. Since the investigation is ongoing, police declined to comment on the possible cause. Police did say, however, that they received notification of the accident around 9:30 p.m. local time.
Furthermore, VG reports, a rescue squad in the region learned of the helicopter crash within the next 15 minutes. It was among the first boats to respond to the site, too. In fact, the operations director tells VG they were within a few thousand feet—just 800 to 900 meters away, the paper states—from Bacarella. The rescue squad crew was about to tow a boat with engine problems when they heard a loud bang. The squad dropped the tow line and headed straight to the crash, the operations director adds. That’s when they saw two people on the helicopter’s yellow flotation aids and a third person who appeared unconscious. The squad brought all three people onboard and administered CPR to the latter passenger as they transported them to shore, where an ambulance awaited.
Early this morning, a local hospital confirmed to VG the third passenger’s critical injuries. All three remain in the hospital.
Police credit the rescue squad with helping to save the passengers’ lives. Police also retrieved the helicopter from the water overnight. No injuries reportedly occurred to anyone onboard Bacarella. No damage apparently happened aboard the yacht, either.
Marine accident investigators arrived in Bergen, Norway today to begin their examination of the evidence and analysis of what occurred.
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