Eleven have been found dead and two people are still unaccounted for. The rotor blade of the helicopter, a Eurocopter 225, was found on land while the hull was under water at a depth of 6 meters to 7 meters. All 11 victims were Statoil employees, a company which is 67 percent owned by the government. Statoil mobilized its emergency organization in Stavanger and Bergen. Emergency services have said there are no signs of survivors.
Residents in the area t.old they heard a large explosion and the aircraft spiral downwards before seeing the helicopter crash to the ground. Air traffic monitoring site Flightradar24 said the helicopter plunged 640ft in 10 seconds.A large plume of black smoke was visable to the surrounding area. Statoil had temporarily grounded all helicopters of the type that crashed, an Airbus H225 Super Puma.
