Helicopters

Estonian authorities have confirmed that the fuselage of the Sikorsky S-76C that crashed into the Gulf of Finland just offshore from Estonia’s capital Tallinn on 10 August has been found on the seabed, and the recovery of bodies has begun. The two pilots and 12 passengers on board the Copterline helicopter, which had taken off from Tallinn 3min earlier to operate the shuttle service to Helsinki, Finland, were found to have gone down with the helicopter.

Some floating wreckage has been located, but an Estonian remote-controlled marine survey vehicle has sent back pictures of the aircraft on the Baltic Sea bed. The hull is reported not to have suffered any significant deformation. Finnish divers have begun recovering the bodies.

Finnish carrier Copterline, which operates the shuttle, says that the weather was “windy”, but well within operating limits for the helicopter type.