Post by tigergirl on Jan 4, 2009 19:51:05 GMT -6
| Update: 8 now dead in helicopter accident in Terrebonne Parish 07:41 PM CST on Sunday, January 4, 2009 Chad Bower / Eyewitness News TERREBONNE, La. -- Eight people are dead after a helicopter crashed Sunday in the lower southwest portion of Terrebonne Parish, according to Coast Guard officer Jaclyn Young. There were nine people on board a PHI, Inc. helicopter at the time of the crash, which happened around 3:30 p.m. near Bayou Penchant. One of them was transported to a nearby hospital, while the Coast Guard put on a search for the ninth person. That person was found dead later, raising the death toll in the accident to eight. The condition of the medevaced passenger is not known, Young said. The U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center in Virginia originally picked up the signal and alerted the Coast Guard station in New Orleans, Young said. Shortly thereafter the Coast Guard launched a HH-65C rescue helicopter from New Orleans to the scene of the accident. According to their website, PHI, Inc. is a helicopter services company that provides transportation to offshore oil and gas, onshore mining, and medical and technical services industries. They are independently owned. Last year there was an accident involving a PHI helicopter. In June, three PHI crew members and a patient they were transporting died after their helicopter crashed in Texas. The exact location of the accident, as well as the cause, is not yet known. The Terrebonne Sheriff's Office and Airforce Rescue Coordination Center is assisting in the investigation. The identities of the victims has not yet been determined. |
