4 die as Pawan Hans helicopter headed for oil rig off Mumbai coast lands at sea, goes down

Jun 29,2022

4 die as Pawan Hans helicopter headed for oil rig off Mumbai coast lands at sea, goes down

MUMBAI: Four of the nine occupants of a Pawan Hans helicopter died after the aircraft, carrying ONGC officials to an oil rig in Bombay High, made an emergency landing in the Arabian sea on Tuesday.
Three of the four deceased were ONGC staff: Mukesh Kumar Patel (55), executive engineer (electrical) from Mehsana, Vijay Mandloi (32), executive engineer (mechanical) from Bhopal, and Satyambad Patra (27), a geologist from Bhubaneswar who was on his first offshore deployment. The fourth casualty was Sanju Francis from Kerala who was employed by catering and housekeeping contractor Saraf Corporation India as a room boy.

ONGC said the four deceased were rescued by the Navy and brought to the base in an unconscious condition. "Despite inclement weather conditions, the rescue operations were carried out very swiftly," said ONGC, adding that an inquiry has been instituted into the accident involving the leased aircraft.

Chopper flying to rig turns 'topsy turvy' on water; 5 rescued survive
A leased Sikorsky 76-D helicopter operated by Pawan Hans was less than two kilometres from ONGC's Sagar Kiran rig, its destination off the Mumbai coast, when the pilots made an emergency landing in poor weather. "The pilots did not make a Mayday call," said a source. "The helicopter turned topsy turvy on landing," he added. But it remained afloat for four-odd hours after coming down. These helicopters are fitted with automatic flotation equipment which inflates on contact with water. All the nine passengers managed to inflate their life jackets, indicating they were okay when the aircraft hit the water, said ONGC sources.

Late on Tuesday evening, the survivors-two helicopter crew members and three ONGC employees-were moved to Nanavati hospital. A team from the Mumbai office of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation was present at the hospital. Four others, including three ONGC stafers, died.
The Yellow Gate police have registered a case of accidental death and are probing.
Built in 2014, the Sikorsky 76-D helicopter (VT-PWI) was owned by Milestone Aviation Group, a Dublin-based helicopter leasing company, said sources. It was earlier leased out to Thai Aviation Services, an offshore helicopter services provider based in Thailand. Pawan Hans leased it last year, importing it in August. "This helicopter, first of its kind introduced into offshore operations by ONGC, had started operations only a month ago," said a source.

The helicopter took off from Juhu helipad at 10.54 am for Sagar Kiran ONGC rig, located 60 nautical miles from Mumbai. "At 11.45 am, ONGC informed the Pawan Hans operations room at Juhu airport that the helicopter has ditched at sea," said a source. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing carried out by helicopter pilots on water. Soon after, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre said it received a distress alert, an automatic distress signal sent on impact by a transmitter on the aircraft.
Indian Coast Guard (ICG) spokesperson, commandant RK Singh said: "The International Safety Net was activated to alert nearby vessels. Within a few minutes, another ONGC aircraft was launched from Juhu airbase. ICG also diverted ICG ships and Dornier aircraft," said Singh. ONGC said the 'Regional Contingency Plan' was immediately activated; Indian Navy and Coast Guard were alerted. "ONGC vessels near the location were mobilized. With prompt action, one person was rescued by lifeboat launched from ONGC rig Sagar Kiran and four persons were rescued by ONGC stand by vessel Malviya-16," ONGC said in a statement.

Oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri condoled the bereaved families. "My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families for their irreparable loss. We stand with them in this hour of grief," he tweeted.
This is the third accident linked to ONGC's operations in the Arabian Sea in recent years. A helicopter carrying five ONGC staffers had crashed off Mumbai's coast in 2018, killing all seven aboard, including the two pilots. Last year, 86 people employed on a rig died after warnings of a cyclone were disregarded and the anchor of a barge snapped during a storm. All aboard the barge had to abandon the vessel.