Survivor search after helicopter crash

Last updated at 13:35 10 August 2005


A Finnish helicopter with 12 passengers and two crew crashed into the Baltic Sea off Estonia in stormy weather, and rescuers said they could see no sign of any survivors.

The helicopter, which was on a scheduled commercial flight en route to Helsinki from the Estonian capital Tallinn, crashed near the Baltic island of Naissaar three minutes after take-off, Estonian officials said.

Rescue helicopters, boats and divers from Estonia and Finland found remains of the helicopter but had not yet located those on board - six Finnish passengers and the two Finnish crew, four Estonians and two Americans.

"We have not found any people. But we are not saying they are dead," said Estonian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Jaana Aduson.

"Helicopter remains have been found. For the time being, no people have been found," said Finnish Foreign Ministry official Pekka Hyvonen.

There were strong winds in the Baltic, said Estonia's Meteorological Institute, and some ferries between Tallinn and Helsinki had been cancelled due to storm warnings.

"At this moment only one of the propeller blades is visible above the surface of the sea, but there's no sign of people," the Baltic News

Service quoted a company official as saying.

The helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76, was owned by the company Copterline, which flies the 18-minute hop between Tallinn and Helsinki 28 times a day during the week. The helicopters are made by a unit of US company United Technologies Corp.

Most watched News videos