OilVoice - Helicopter Crash in the Mississippi River Delta Claims Eight Victims

Helicopter Crash in the Mississippi River Delta Claims Eight Victims

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

On Sunday, January 4, 2009, at approximately 2:10 pm, a PHI, Inc. Sikorsky S76 medium transport helicopter was involved in a fatal accident approximately 10 miles south of Morgan City, LA. The flight was outbound from PHI’s Amelia, LA operating base to Shell’s South Timbalier 300 Block offshore platform. There were seven (7) passengers and two (2) PHI pilots on board. Eight souls perished in the accident, and there is one survivor who is in critical condition at a Louisiana hospital.

The passengers were working for two different companies, Dynamic Industries (“Dynamic”) and MMR Offshore Services (“MMR”). The surviving passenger is Steven Yeltin of Floresville, TX, who works for Dynamic.

The cause of the accident is unknown and is under investigation by the Company and the NTSB. Our deepest sympathies go out to all of the families of those who were on board the aircraft. Additional information will be forthcoming.

PHI provides helicopter transportation and related services to a broad range of customers including the oil and gas industry, air medical industry and also provides third-party maintenance services to select customers.