PHI helicopter crash
When a PHI helicopter bound for an offshore oil platform crashed Sunday afternoon in Louisiana’s marshlands about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans, eight people died and another was injured.
The helicopter, operated by PHI Inc., crashed about 3:30 p.m. shortly after taking off from PHI’s base in Amelia, said Richard Rovinelli, a spokesman for the company. The cause of the crash isn’t clear. Rovinelli did not know the type of helicopter or its exact destination.
Rovinelli said the helicopter was carrying two pilots and seven passengers. Identities of the victims have not yet been released.
PHI Inc. is the same company that owned the helicopter that crashed and killed four people in June in the Sam Houston National Forest in Huntsville.
In that case, a patient was being transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital-The Texas Medical Center in Houston.
Identities of Sunday’s crash victims have not yet been released.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been advised of the crash and investigators were expected to arrive today, Rovinelli said.
Petty Officer Jaclyn Young said the survivor was being transported to Ochsner Medical Facility in suburban New Orleans. Young said the person was in critical condition.
The U.S. Coast Guard received a distress call at about 3:30 p.m. The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Department recovered the bodies, officials said.
PHI Inc. is a Lafayette, La.-based company that provides transportation to offshore oil and gas concerns.