Helicopter crashes in Estonia

2005-08-10 14:29

Tallinn - A helicopter carrying 14 people crashed in the Baltic Sea off Estonia on Wednesday, the Estonian Ministry of the Interior said.

The helicopter crashed three minutes after take off and went down about five kilometres from the coast near the island of Naissaar, the ministry said.

A helicopter from the Estonia Border Guard was at the scene and rescue boats have also been dispatched. The ministry said it had asked Finland to send a helicopter to assist.

Two of the 14 were crew members whose nationality was not immediately known. Of the 12 passengers, six were Finnish nationals, four Estonian and two Americans, the Finnish news agency STT reported, quoting Estonian embassy officials in Finland.

The helicopter was en route from Tallinn, Estonia to the Finnish capital, Helsinki.

The helicopter was operated by the Finnish-based company Copterline, which declined to comment on the incident, pending further details.

According to the company's website, Copterline operates nine helicopters and has some 100 employees.

It began deploying Sikorsky S-76 C+ helicopters for its scheduled flights for the 85km route between Helsinki and Tallinn in May 2000. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA