Four killed in offshore helicopter emergency landing incident

The incident was confirmed by ONGC in a statement on 28 June. The aircraft, a Sikorsky 76-D operated by Pawan Hans and leased from the Milestone Aviation Group, was reportedly carrying nine people onboard when it made an emergency landing near the company’s oil rig ‘Sagar Kiran’ in Mumbai High Field in the Gulf of Cambay during inclement weather conditions.

The aircraft overturned after landing, but remained afloat due to its automatic flotation devices. All nine passengers managed to inflate their life jackets after the landing, suggesting that they were alive at the start of the incident.

Four casualties were reportedly retrieved from the water in an unconscious condition by an Indian Navy helicopter, which transported them to a nearby hospital. Tragically, the four individuals rescued did not survive their injuries. The remaining five occupants were successfully rescued by ONGC-affiliated rescue vessels, and have been transferred to Nanavati Hospital to recover.

The casualties included three ONGC staff and one third party contractor: Mukesh Kumar Patel, 55, and Vijay Mandloi, 32, who were Executive Engineers for the company; Satyambad Patra, 27, a geologist on his first offshore deployment; and Saniu Francis, a catering and housekeeping contractor employed by Saraf Corporation India.

ONGC said that an inquiry had been opened into the cause of the incident. In a statement following the incident, the government’s Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that he was ‘personally deeply saddened by the incident and the loss of four lives.

“My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families for their irreparable loss. We stand with them in this hour of grief,” he tweeted.

The Indian Coast Guard recently acquired two new Dhruv Advanced Light Heliopter Mark IIIs in April 2022, which were delivered to its base in Kochi.