A helicopter crashed into the Baltic Sea near Estonia killing all 14 aboard. The helicopter was a Sikorsky SK-76C and was operated by the finnish
company Copterline. The helicopter was to fly from Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki, Finland but crashed after just a few minutes. There were four
Estonians, two Americans, and eight Finns aboard. The cause of the crash is not known. This helicopter should be able to float, but it didn`t...
Search for survivors. Photo: SCANPIX/EPA
Related News Sources:
Dagbladet ( in Norwegian)
The Seattle Times:14
aboard killed in Estonia helicopter crash
BBC: Estonia helicopter 14 feared dead
 BBC: Divers at Baltic air crash scene
There has been severe weather in the Baltic region in recent days but the interior ministry said it was not too bad at the time of the crash.
A pilot boat skipper told Estonia's Kanal2 television that he heard two bangs before seeing the helicopter nose-dive into the sea. Please visit the link provided for the complete story.RIA Novosti: Divers to recover helicopter crash bodies from Baltic seabed
The cause of the accident is not yet clear, but three versions are being considered: poor weather, a technical failure, or a terrorist
attack.
The Sikorsky S-76C helicopter crashed into the Baltic Sea Wednesday near the island of Naissaar off the Estonian coast. The helicopter left Tallinn at
12.40 local time (9.40 GMT), but three minutes later all contact with it was lost.
There were four Estonians, two Americans, and eight Finns, including two crewmembers, on board.
The helicopter was operated by a Finnish-based company, Copterline, which provides regular flights between Tallinn and Helsinki. Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
[edit on 2005/8/11 by Hellmutt]
|
If the crash was not caused by "weather, pilot error or a technical problem", then what caused it? Maybe we´ll never know. Btw, one of the pilots
took part in the M/S Estonia ferry rescue operation in 1994...
TurkishPress: Divers retrieve bodies, officials probe helicopter crash off
Estonia
Meanwhile, Copterline bosses in Finland puzzled over what caused the accident, ruling out the weather, pilot error or a technical problem. "It was
windy, but these helicopters are used to flying in these conditions and are built to fly in storms," Kari Ljungberg, chief executive Copterline, told
AFP in Helsinki.
The Estonian victims of the chopper crash have been identified as the wife of Estonian food tycoon Oliver Kruuda, Ruta Kruuda, and his sister Kristel
Soll; and two recent graduates of the Estonian Academy of Music, Liisa Suuster and Carolina Kremenetski. According to Finland's Iltasanomat
newspaper, Finnish victims of the crash included five members of the labour protection authority, who had reportedly swapped boat tickets for
helicopter tickets because of urgent work commitments.
Estonian newspaper Eesti Paevaleht identified one of the chopper's pilots as Peter Eriksson, who previously worked in the Finnish maritime rescue
agency and took part in the rescue operation of the Estonia ferry in 1994. The two US citizens who died in the crash were Estonian-born Lydia Riis
Hamburgen, 86, of Minnesota, and her daughter Mary Elizabeth Hamburgen, 46, of California, according to press reports.
Related:
ATS: How did the 'Estonia' sink 1994?
|
Copterline have sued Sikorsky for $60 million. They believe Sikorsky is responsible for a defect that caused the crash.
Sikorsky facing two lawsuits over helicopter crashes
February 5, 2007
A Finnish helicopter shuttle company has sued Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. for $60 million, claiming the company is responsible for a defect that allegedly
caused a crash 18 months ago that killed 14 people.
In late December, Copterline Oy sued Sikorsky and its Trumbull subsidiary Helicopter Support Inc. (HSI) in federal court in New York. Both Sikorsky
and Copterline face a second, $60 million lawsuit brought in January by the wives of the helicopter pilot and co-pilot.
[---]
Shortly after liftoff on Aug. 10, 2005, a Copterline helicopter stalled out and crashed into the sea. A preliminary investigation by Estonian
authorities blamed the crash on the failure of an actuator that changes the angle or rotor blades. In its lawsuit, Copterline contends that failure
was caused by chips that flaked off a piston coating, interfering with the actuator’s normal operation.
With the actuator blocked, without warning the helicopter pitched upward minutes after takeoff, rolled left and spun into the sea. Copterline says HSI
shipped the part in question two years before the crash. Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
|
