US Coast Guard recoveres 4 bodies from Gulf of Mexico helicopter crash

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The bodies of all four people who were aboard a helicopter that crashed into the Gulf of Mexico while departing an oil platform last week have been recovered.

The U.S. Coast Guard recovered the bodies of a pilot and three offshore workers on Monday, according to a joint statement from the employees’ companies, The Advocate reported.

“We extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the pilot and passengers on board the aircraft,” read the statement from Rotorcraft Leasing Company, Walter Oil & Gas Corporation and Island Operating Co.

“We will continue to cooperate fully with the agencies investigating this tragic incident including the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.”

AT LEAST 4 DEAD AFTER HELICOPTERS COLLIDE ON THE GOLD COAST NEAR SEA WORLD IN AUSTRALIA

The helicopter reportedly was in the process of departing a Walter Oil & Gas Corporation platform when it crashed around 8:40 a.m. CST Thursday about 10 miles offshore of Southwest Pass, a shipping channel at the mouth of the Mississippi River southeast of New Orleans.

The helicopter was owned and operated by Rotorcraft Leasing Company of Broussard and the passengers were employed by Island Operating Co., based in Lafayette. Helicopters routinely transport workers to and from oil platforms in the Gulf.

One of the workers on board was 36-year-old David Scarborough of Lizana, Mississippi, according to his wife, Lacy Scarborough. She told the Sun Herald newspaper that they are expecting a baby, and that her husband recently got a job promotion. This is the second tragedy to strike the family, who lost their 2-year-old son, Sawyer, when the boy drowned last March.

The U.S. Coast Guard has recovered all four bodies in the Gulf of Mexico helicopter that crashed departing from an oil rig last week. NTSB is investigating the crash and should have preliminary report in a few weeks.

Lacy Scarborough told WDSU-TV that her husband was supposed to return home to celebrate a late Christmas with his family. She said the last message he sent to her said the helicopter was taking off and that he would be home soon.

The Clarke County Tribune reported on Dec. 29 that Tim Graham, of Quitman, Mississippi, was also one of the people on board the downed helicopter.

The identities of the other two victims are still unknown.

U.S. Coast Guard crews in a boat and a helicopter searched for eight hours Thursday, covering an area of roughly 180 square miles, before suspending the search for potential survivors.

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Weather didn’t appear to be a factor in the crash, officials said, as there were no reports of storms in the area Thursday. The NTSB said it is investigating the crash and should have a preliminary report in a few weeks.

Last month, another of Rotorcraft’s helicopters crashed off the Louisiana coast while attempting to land on an oil rig platform. The Coast Guard rescued three people. That Dec. 15 crash occurred south of Terrebonne Bay, roughly 60 miles west of the area the Coast Guard searched Thursday.