BRITAIN: A helicopter crash in the North Sea of Britain's East Anglian coast which killed five people and left another six missing and feared dead was being blamed last night on a mechanical failure.
Five bodies and some wreckage were recovered within two hours of the tragedy, which happened when a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter went down some 30 miles off the Norfolk coast at about 7.45 p.m. on Tuesday.
Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch launched an inquiry and salvage teams worked to locate the wreckage.
But rescue teams and experts said initial indications were that the aircraft, operated by Bristow Helicopters Ltd, crashed because of "major mechanical failure".
Helicopter accidents in the North Sea usually occur in bad weather yet conditions at the time of the incident were said to be good with visibility of up to five miles.
Flotation bags are normally activated in a controlled ditch and none was visible at the scene.
Coastguards reported that the aircraft appeared to "spiral down" and hit the water soon after taking off from the Shell/Esso-operated Clipper platform for the Global Santa Fe Monarch drilling rig nearby.
The pilot may even have attempted to put down on the platform but fell "tragically short", sources close to rescue services said.
Capt Peter Morgan, an experienced North Sea pilot who worked with Bristow from 1977 to 1999, said: "A mechanical problem which left the pilot unable to control the helicopter can be one of the only explanations for this tragedy."