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Petrofac confirms Rashid field helicopter accident

Offshore

Offshore staff

LONDON -- Petrofac has confirmed there was an incident involving a helicopter in the Rashid field offshore Dubai.

An Aerogulf Bell 212 helicopter carrying two crew members and five passengers was engaged in a routine infield flight. During take-off the helicopter crashed onto the deck of the Resilient, the Maersk jackup drilling rig. The aircraft then broke up and fell into the sea, according to Petrofac.

Immediately following the incident, a fire broke out on the main deck of the drilling rig, which was quickly contained and extinguished. Emergency response vessels and aircraft were mobilized and incident management control measures were immediately initiated in cooperation with the Dubai Police and Coastguard.

On Thursday, Sept. 4, it was confirmed that there were no survivors, and that there were no additional casualties on either the drilling rig or the platform.

All operations on the Rashid field have been suspended and the platform and drilling rig have been secured.