ONGC Helicopter Crash: 3 Employees Among 4 Dead, 5 Undergoing Treatment

ONGC Helicopter Carrying 9 People Makes Emergency landing in Arabian Sea, 4 People Rescued

Mumbai: At least four persons died after being brought out of the Pawan Hans helicopter which fell into the Arabian Sea on Tuesday while attempting to land at the ONGC Sagar Kiran rig at Mumbai High. Earlier today,  all nine people including 2 pilots were pulled out after successful rescue operations but four have now been reported dead.

The chopper was attempting to land at the rig, located some 50 nautical miles from the Mumbai coast, when the incident took place. About 1.5 km from the landing zone on the rig, the chopper fell into the sea, a company official said.

Soon after the mishap, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited took to Twitter and informed about the incident. The site of the mishap is located 7 nautical miles inside the Arabian sea from Mumbai.

A series of tweets shared by the ONGC mentioned that 4 persons have been rescued by the ONGC vessel Malviya-16, while the fifth person has been rescued by an ONGC rig Sagar Kiran rescue boat. According to official sources, the Indian Coast Guard has also joined in the rescue operations.

The Coast Guard has diverted two ships towards the site for the rescue operation. One Dornier aircraft, which took off from Daman dropped one life raft in the area, official sources said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Coast Guard said that the ONGC helicopter ditched 60NM west of Mumbai at sea in close proximity to oil rig Sagar Kiran. “Coast Guard ship at sea diverted to reach datum, another ship sailed out from Mumbai with dispatch to join rescue operations. Coast Guard Aircraft dropped life rafts for survivors. International safety net activated by MRCC. Coast Guard coordinating with Indian Navy and ONGC for mobilisation of rescue effort. OSV Malviya 16 diverted by MRCC Mumbai to join rescue operations picks up five survivors,” it said.

@IndiaCoastGuard deployed sea & air assets to rescue 2 crew & 9 pax of ONGC Pawan Hans Helicopter that crashed off #Mumbai today. MRCC(MBI) activated ISN & coordinating SAR in area. 02 survivors recovered so far. pic.twitter.com/08iUJYPR13

— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) June 28, 2022

#Helicopter carrying 7 passengers & 2 pilots makes emergency landing in #Arabian Sea near #ONGC rig Sagar Kiran in #Mumbai High. Four rescued. Rescue operations in full swing. @HardeepSPuri @Rameswar_Teli @PetroleumMin

— Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) (@ONGC_) June 28, 2022

The Pawan Hans helicopter reportedly had six ONGC personnel onboard, and one belonging to a contractor working for the company. It was forced to land using the floaters that are attached to such coppers that carry personnel and material from shore to offshore installations.

The reason that led to the emergency landing was not immediately clear.