All saved in North Sea air crash

Eighteen passengers rescued after helicopter crashes near oil platform off Scottish coast.

Helicopter Crash Survivors Arrive Back in Aberdeen
The passengers arrived back at Aberdeen harbour after being rescued  [GALLO/GETTY]

Caygill likened the rescue to an incident last month when a pilot landed a damaged US Airways plane on the Hudson River in New York, saving all 155 people on board.

“I suspect the pilot of this helicopter played a very major part in ensuring all the passengers and crew were alive when they were rescued,” he said.

“It would have been very difficult for the passengers not least because you’re in an aircraft, you’ve gone into the water, you’re in the dark and you have to get yourself to a life raft.”

Caygill said it was too early to say what had caused the incident and that it was unclear whether the helicopter had been landing on or taking off from the platform.

The flight was one of the thousands a year that service the many oil and gas platforms in the North Sea.

Source: News Agencies