A helicopter has ditched in the North Sea.
Sixteen people are believed to be on board.
Aberdeen Coastguard has confirmed a rescue operation is under way.
The incident is believed to have happened about 35 miles east of Crimond at about 1400 BST.
More soon.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2009/04/01 13:39:56 GMT
A major search for survivors is under way after a helicopter ditched in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland.
At least 16 people were believed to be on board the Bond Super Puma.
Coastguards said the incident happened about 35 miles east of Crimond, between Peterhead and Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire, just before 1400 BST.
The operation includes two RAF rescue helicopters and an RAF Nimrod, as well as two local lifeboats. Other boats are also in the area.
Helicopter operator Bond confirmed one of its aircraft was involved in the incident.
'Mayday signal'
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said a supply vessel called Normand Aurora had put its fast response boat into the water and was looking for survivors.
"Two helicopters from the RAF have been scrambled to the scene and a Nimrod marine patrol aircraft has been diverted to the area," said a spokesman.
"Aberdeen Coastguard have begun broadcasting a mayday signal into the area. RNLI lifeboats from Peterhead and Fraserburgh are heading for the scene now.
"It is understood that there are 16 people on board the aircraft."
The crash comes less than two months after a helicopter with 18 people on board ditched in the Etap field 125 miles east of Aberdeen.
All those on board the Super Puma survived the crash on 18 February.
Eight people have been killed and another eight are missing after a helicopter ditched in the sea off the north east Scottish coast, Sky sources say.
The Bond Super Puma aircraft, with 14 passengers and two crew, was returning from an oil platform, just before 2pm, when it went down 35 miles from Aberdeenshire.
Eight bodies have been found and the search continues for eight other people, sources say.
The incident comes about six weeks after another Bond Super Puma with 18 people on board ditched in the North Sea.
Aberdeen Coastguard was co-ordinating the latest search and rescue operation, which included two RAF helicopters and a Nimrod marine patrol aircraft.
Helicopter operator Bond confirmed one of its helicopters was involved in today's crash.
BP said the aircraft was operating on behalf of the oil giant and it was returning to shore from the Miller oil field.
The Coastguard has confirmed the helicopter was a Super Puma AS 33L Mk II which was an earlier model of the one which ditched on February 18.
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) spokesman said: "A supply vessel called Normand Aurora, which was quite close by, has put their fast response boat into the water and is looking for survivors."
An MCA statement said: "Aberdeen Coastguard have begun broadcasting a mayday signal into the area.
"RNLI lifeboats from Peterhead and Fraserburgh are heading for the scene now."
In the previous incident, the aircraft had gone down as it approached a production platform owned by BP. Everyone survived the accident.
An interim report into the February incident from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the helicopter had run into a bank of fog as it prepared to land.
It added the commander, Michael Tweedie, had been unable to identify the helideck of the BP platform.
Super Puma crew transmitted Mayday before North Sea crash
Investigators have confirmed that the crew of a Eurocopter AS332 L2 helicopter transmitted a 'Mayday' call before the aircraft crashed into the North Sea yesterday with the apparent loss of all 16 on board.
UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch officials state that the distress call was "brief" and that the aircraft, identified as G-REDL, was "seen to descend rapidly" and strike the surface of the sea.
Recovery teams are preparing to locate and retrieve the aircraft's combined voice and flight-data recorder.
Fourteen passengers and two pilots were on board the aircraft, operated by Bond Offshore Helicopters, and eight occupants are confirmed dead. There is no evidence of any survivors.
Ten of those on board were employees of Aberdeen-based KCA Deutag Drilling. The company says that the aircraft was operating a crew-change service for the BP Miller platform, and the helicopter was returning to Aberdeen.
"The cause of the crash has not yet been verified but we know that weather conditions were good," it adds.
Representatives of the French accident investigation agency Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses, Eurocopter and the European Aviation Safety Agency have been invited to participate in the inquiry.
Search efforts resumed at 06:30 today after being suspended overnight. Bond's offshore flight information centre indicates that all services today to the various oil fields have been cancelled, while the transport union RMT says the helicopter type should be grounded pending investigation.
"Reports indicate that the crash was the result of a catastrophic failure in the aircraft, and it would make sense for the model involved to be grounded until it is clear what caused it," says RMT offshore organiser Jake Molloy.
Two Royal Air Force rescue helicopters were scrambled after the Coast Guard received notification, just before 14:00 yesterday, that a helicopter had ditched about 22km off the coast of Crimond, between Fraserburgh and Peterhead.
Lifeboats were dispatched and a British Aerospace Nimrod maritime patrol jet diverted to assist, while several other vessels headed for the search area. Two overturned liferafts were seen in the water.
Yesterday's accident came just six weeks after a Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma, also operated by Bond, ditched near an oil platform on 18 February. All 18 occupants were rescued.
An initial report into the North Sea helicopter crash which killed 16 people has found that the aircraft suffered a "catastrophic failure".
The report said the failure occurred in the main gearbox, resulting in what it described as "detachment of the main rotor assembly".
The report also urgently recommended that "additional inspections" be carried out on other Super Pumas.
The report added that the gearbox failure is not yet understood.
In the report, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said: "Examination of the wreckage indicates that the accident occurred following a catastrophic failure of the main rotor gearbox.
“ Immediately after impact he saw the four main rotor blades, still connected at their hub, strike the water. Around this time, he also heard two bangs, close together ” AAIB report, quoting crash eyewitness .
"This resulted in the detachment of the main rotor head from the helicopter and was rapidly followed by main rotor blade strikes on the pylon and tail boom, which became severed from the fuselage.
"It is apparent that there was also a rupture in the right-hand engine casing."
It added that the investigation revealed that the gearbox had suffered a "major failure", which was not yet fully understood.
The AAIB report recommended the helicopter's manufacturer, Eurocopter, should carry out "additional inspections and enhanced monitoring" on its AS332L2 models of Super Puma helicopters, to ensure the airworthiness of the gearboxes.
It also recommended that the European Aviation Safety Agency evaluates these checks and, when satisfied, makes them compulsory.
In addition, investigators advised that Eurocopter improves its gearbox monitoring and warning systems on its AS332L2 helicopters.
Eyewitness account
Investigators said the black box flight recorder found that, after take-off at 1303 BST, the crew had been engaged in "routine cockpit activities" and there were no problems.
At 1354 BST the co-pilot made a routine call to say the estimated time of arrival at Aberdeen Airport was 1414 BST.
Twelve seconds after this, one of the pilots issued a mayday call, which was picked up by air traffic controllers.
Air traffic controllers tried unsuccessfully to contact the crew, before asking the crew of another helicopter in the area to examine an area based on the Super Puma's last radar position.
The report said radar information showed the helicopter flying inbound towards Aberdeen at 2,000ft, climbing momentarily to 2,200ft, then turning right and "descending rapidly".
An eyewitness working on a supply vessel near the crash site heard the helicopter and saw it come down before it hit the sea.
The report states: "Immediately after impact he saw the four main rotor blades, still connected at their hub, strike the water.
"Around this time, he also heard two bangs, close together.
"He immediately raised the alarm and the ship turned towards the accident site, which by now was marked by a rising column of grey then black smoke."
A memorial service for those who died is to be held on Wednesday in Aberdeen.
It will be attended by the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay.
The service will be held in Aberdeen's St Nicholas' Kirk and conducted by the Rev Andrew Jolly, chaplain to the North Sea oil and gas industry.
The 14 passengers and two crew were returning from BP's Miller platform when the helicopter crashed in the sea, 11 miles north-east of Peterhead on April 1.
The bodies of the victims have all been recovered and identified.
Half of the victims came from the north east of Scotland, seven from the rest of the UK, and one from Latvia.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2009/04/10 19:28:03 GMT
