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...For a better society... Tuesday, July 27 2004 Vol 17 No.30 News Editorial Opinion Features Politics Columnists Sports Business Money/Market Industry Insurance Energy 4 killed as chopper crashes •Injured oil worker on board FELIX NWANERI, Lagos A bid by a helicopter ferrying a critically injured oil workers from a rig off Escravos in Delta State to the warmth of medical succor in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ended on a sour note as the aircraft was reported missing almost 14 hours after it took off. Four persons, including the American pilot and the injured worker, are feared dead in the process even as the firm which mobilised the helicopter was identified as a ChevronTexaco affiliate, Nigerian Star Ultra Deep. As at press time, a search and rescue armada comprising three helicopters, five boats and one aeroplane has been deployed to examine the flight route of the missing chopper. Contact with the chopper was last at 2.30am yesterday, five minutes after it took off from a drilling rig where Star Ultra Deep was working at the Nsiko Sea located in OPL 249. The chopper which had four persons, three Nigerians and the American on board, was mobilised at about midnight on Sunday to evacuate the injured rig worker. The co-pilot of the chopper, owned by Pan African Airline, is a Nigerian while others on board, apart from the American and the injured worker was a medical personnel working for Trans Ocean, operators of the Nebco Energy rig. Consequently, Star Ultra Deep mobilised the search-and-rescue mission and more resources will be redeployed, if needed. The company has alerted all relevant government and security agencies as well as the American Embassy on the incident. The immediate families of the passengers on board have also been contacted. General Manager, Government and Public Affairs of ChevronTexaco, Mr. Sola Omole, confirmed the missing aircraft. But, according to senior official of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), who also confirmed the incident, preliminary rescue and search operations conducted by officials of the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA), yesterday, revealed traces of aviation fuel in the nearby high sea, indicating that the helicopter may have crashed into the sea. The NCAA official further disclosed that investigations are still on to ascertain the identities of those involved as well as the cause of the incident. � 2004 @ Champion Newspapers Limited (All Right Reserved). Powered By dnetsystems.net dnet�

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