14 Killed When Helicopter Crashed Near Estonia, page 1

posted on Aug, 11 2005 @ 03:31 AM

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A helicopter crashed into the Baltic Sea near Estonia killing all 14 aboard. The helicopter was a Sikorsky SK-76C and was operated by the finnish company Copterline. The helicopter was to fly from Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki, Finland but crashed after just a few minutes. There were four Estonians, two Americans, and eight Finns aboard. The cause of the crash is not known. This helicopter should be able to float, but it didn`t...

Search for survivors. Photo: SCANPIX/EPA

Related News Sources:
Dagbladet (in Norwegian)

The Seattle Times:14 aboard killed in Estonia helicopter crash

BBC: Estonia helicopter 14 feared dead

BBC: Divers at Baltic air crash scene

There has been severe weather in the Baltic region in recent days but the interior ministry said it was not too bad at the time of the crash.

A pilot boat skipper told Estonia's Kanal2 television that he heard two bangs before seeing the helicopter nose-dive into the sea.

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RIA Novosti: Divers to recover helicopter crash bodies from Baltic seabed

The cause of the accident is not yet clear, but three versions are being considered: poor weather, a technical failure, or a terrorist attack.

The Sikorsky S-76C helicopter crashed into the Baltic Sea Wednesday near the island of Naissaar off the Estonian coast. The helicopter left Tallinn at 12.40 local time (9.40 GMT), but three minutes later all contact with it was lost.

There were four Estonians, two Americans, and eight Finns, including two crewmembers, on board.

The helicopter was operated by a Finnish-based company, Copterline, which provides regular flights between Tallinn and Helsinki.

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[edit on 2005/8/11 by Hellmutt]

Hellmutt

posted on Jan, 3 2006 @ 06:06 PM

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If the crash was not caused by "weather, pilot error or a technical problem", then what caused it? Maybe we´ll never know. Btw, one of the pilots took part in the M/S Estonia ferry rescue operation in 1994...

TurkishPress: Divers retrieve bodies, officials probe helicopter crash off Estonia

Meanwhile, Copterline bosses in Finland puzzled over what caused the accident, ruling out the weather, pilot error or a technical problem. "It was windy, but these helicopters are used to flying in these conditions and are built to fly in storms," Kari Ljungberg, chief executive Copterline, told AFP in Helsinki.

The Estonian victims of the chopper crash have been identified as the wife of Estonian food tycoon Oliver Kruuda, Ruta Kruuda, and his sister Kristel Soll; and two recent graduates of the Estonian Academy of Music, Liisa Suuster and Carolina Kremenetski. According to Finland's Iltasanomat newspaper, Finnish victims of the crash included five members of the labour protection authority, who had reportedly swapped boat tickets for helicopter tickets because of urgent work commitments.

Estonian newspaper Eesti Paevaleht identified one of the chopper's pilots as Peter Eriksson, who previously worked in the Finnish maritime rescue agency and took part in the rescue operation of the Estonia ferry in 1994. The two US citizens who died in the crash were Estonian-born Lydia Riis Hamburgen, 86, of Minnesota, and her daughter Mary Elizabeth Hamburgen, 46, of California, according to press reports.

Related:
ATS: How did the 'Estonia' sink 1994?

Hellmutt

posted on Feb, 12 2007 @ 03:18 AM

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Copterline have sued Sikorsky for $60 million. They believe Sikorsky is responsible for a defect that caused the crash.

Sikorsky facing two lawsuits over helicopter crashes

February 5, 2007

A Finnish helicopter shuttle company has sued Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. for $60 million, claiming the company is responsible for a defect that allegedly caused a crash 18 months ago that killed 14 people.

In late December, Copterline Oy sued Sikorsky and its Trumbull subsidiary Helicopter Support Inc. (HSI) in federal court in New York. Both Sikorsky and Copterline face a second, $60 million lawsuit brought in January by the wives of the helicopter pilot and co-pilot.

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Shortly after liftoff on Aug. 10, 2005, a Copterline helicopter stalled out and crashed into the sea. A preliminary investigation by Estonian authorities blamed the crash on the failure of an actuator that changes the angle or rotor blades. In its lawsuit, Copterline contends that failure was caused by chips that flaked off a piston coating, interfering with the actuator’s normal operation.

With the actuator blocked, without warning the helicopter pitched upward minutes after takeoff, rolled left and spun into the sea. Copterline says HSI shipped the part in question two years before the crash.

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