The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Thursday confirmed the death of three people when a helicopter crashed while on its way to an offshore oil production facility.
According to a statement released by NNPC spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye said the helicopter, operated by East Winds Aviation, lost contact while flying from Port Harcourt to the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Antan oil production facility.
The NNPC statement added that the helicopter was carrying eight people, six passengers and two crew members.
Search and rescue efforts were underway, and aviation authorities were investigating the cause of the incident, NNPC spokesperson Olufemi Soneye said in a statement.
Nigeria’s aviation ministry said in a statement that the Sikorsky SK76 helicopter “ditched into the waters near Bonny Finima in the Atlantic Ocean.”
“While no emergency locator transmitter signal was received, manual efforts to plot the location of the accident are underway, and all available resources, including the military and low-flying aircraft, have been deployed to assist in locating and rescuing any survivors,” said Odutayo Oluseyi, a spokesperson for the aviation ministry.
 on Thursday confirmed the death of three people when a helicopter crashed while on its way to an offshore oil production facility.){kind=link}