Helicopter crash kills 8, injures 1 in Louisiana

Helicopter crash kills 8, injures 1 in Louisiana
Published: 1/5/09, 12:25 AM EDT

HOUMA, La. (AP) - Eight people were killed and a ninth was reported critically injured after a helicopter bound for the offshore oil fields crashed Sunday afternoon in marshlands about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans.

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.

He said the helicopter was carrying two pilots and seven passengers. Identities of the victims have not yet been released.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been advised of the crash and investigators were expected to arrive Monday, Rovinelli said.

Petty Officer Jaclyn Young said the Coast Guard assisted Terrebonne Parish sheriff's deputies in searching for and recovering the bodies of the dead and rescuing the survivor from the marshy Bayou Penchant area. A spokesman for the sheriff's office could not be reached for comment.

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I hate helicopters. :scared:

I remember as a kid being terrified of the phone the weeks he was on the rig.

but he still has to go out there periodically

i wonder if he knows anyone....

scary stuff

one of the reasons they get paid so much. dangerous job they do.

yipes

saying I made it safely and she doesn't get the life insurance.

When I was in college (1973), my girlfriends brother was killed in a chopper crash while en route to a rig in the gulf. His body was never recovered. I lost two other friends in that crash, as well. No bodies were recovered!