What a way to start the new year! Eight people died and another was injured when a helicopter, operated by PHI Inc., bound for an offshore oil platform crashed Sunday afternoon in Louisiana’s marshlands about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans.
The helicopter 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.
What is interesting and most likely damning is that 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.
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. It will be very interesting to see the outcome of the investigation into this crash.
Filed under: Kills Eight and Injures One, Louisiana Marshlands, Offshore Oil platform, PHI Inc. Helicopter Crash
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