Four fatalities in Shetland helicopter crash

Police have now named the four fatalities of a Shetland helicopter crash which occurred at approximately 6.27pm on Friday.

The four oil workers killed were George Allison, 57, Duncan Munro, 46, Sarah Darnley, 45, and Gary McCrossan, 59. The Super Puma L2 is reported to have gone down approximately two miles west of Sumburgh airport as it was returning to Shetland from the Borgsten Dolphin platform. It was carrying a total of 16 workers and 2 crew members.  

Police in Scotland had issued a statement at the time of the accident in which they said that “the bodies of three people have been recovered and work is underway to recover the body of a fourth person”.

14 of the people on board the helicopter, including the 2 crew members, were rescued from the sea during an operation which involved police, RAF, local lifeboats and the coastguard. They were taken to Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick after their rescue. Police Scotland’s statement said that “five were discharged and nine detained overnight either for observation or suffering from exposure”.

Helicopter operator CHC, which operates in 30 different countries, has stated on their website that it will be temporarily suspending all Super Puma L2 flights worldwide as a precautionary measure as well as putting a stop to flights in Aberdeen for the time being as “a mark of respect”.

CHC have also said that they had been flying for oil company Total when the crash occurred. The four oil workers who died had also been working for Total through contract organisations. A spokesperson for CHC said “the aircraft was on approach to Sumburgh Airport at approximately 6.20pm when contact was lost with air traffic control”.

Regional director for CHC, Mark Abbey, has spoken to express his “heartfelt sympathies to all those involved” but said that at this stage the company would not speculate about the cause of the helicopter crash.     

Molly Kersey