Jan. 14—The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the Dec. 29 helicopter crash that killed four people in the Gulf of Mexico.
The pilot and three offshore workers were killed in the crash, which took place on an oil rig about 10 miles offshore from Southwest Pass, a shipping channel at the mouth of the Mississippi River southeast of New Orleans.
According to the report, the Bell 407 helicopter arrived at West Delta 106 platform about 8:25 a.m. with four passengers on board.
"The 4 passengers exited the helicopter and proceeded below the helipad where they had a short discussion with the platform workers that were scheduled to return to the mainland on the helicopter. Then 3 platform workers boarded the helicopter before it departed," the report said.
There were no eyewitnesses or surveillance video of the helicopter's departure from the helipad, according to the report. However, several individuals reported hearing the aircraft's motor running while it was on the helipad.
"These individuals noted that the helicopter's engine continued to run after it landed on the helipad, and that they heard the engine noise increase for takeoff and then the sound of items hitting the platform," according to the report.
The individuals immediately went outside and saw the helicopter fuselage floating inverted in the water. The tail boom was separated but adjacent to the fuselage. The landing skids were separated from the fuselage and the emergency skid floats were inflated.
Debris from the helicopter was scattered throughout multiple decks below the helipad, including a six-foot-long portion of a main rotor blade, which came to rest on a metal handrail on the deck below the helipad.
Several individuals on the platform immediately boarded and launched the platform's emergency escape capsule, according to the report, but the helicopter fuselage sank before they could reach the four occupants who remained inside.
Petty Officer Jose Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard's 8th District, said the oil platform is operated by Houston-based Walter Oil and Gas. Weather didn't appear to be a factor in the crash, Hernandez said.
The crash was the third serious one in the past year for Rotorcraft Leasing Co., which owned the helicopter, according to federal records and the Coast Guard.
Two people died when another Rotocraft helicopter nose-dived into a marsh near Houma on Jan. 14. Two weeks ago, on Dec. 15, another Rotocraft helicopter plunged into the Gulf about 30 miles offshore of Terrebonne Bay. All three people aboard were rescued by the Coast Guard.
All four bodies were recovered Jan. 3, according to a joint statement released by Rotorcraft, which owned the helicopter, Walter Oil & Gas, which owns the platform, and Island Operating Co., for which the three passengers worked.
One of the passengers — David Scarborough — was identified by his family in Mississippi. The Clarke County Tribune reported on Dec. 29 that Tim Graham, of Quitman, Mississippi, was also one of the people on board.
The identities of the other two victims have not been made public.
Rotocraft did not respond to several requests for comment.
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