17 rescued from helicopter crash

A helicopter carrying 17 people crashed into the North Sea near the Dutch port of Den Helder but rescuers managed to pull everyone out of the wreckage and the water, a Coast Guard official said.

The rescued passengers and crew were all alive and well and were put onto a rescue boat last night to be transferred to shore.

One survivor was flown by helicopter to a nearby Navy base suffering mild hypothermia, said Peter van Oorschot of the Dutch Coast Guard.

The search and rescue helicopter, a twin-engined Super Puma, crashed into the sea shortly before midnight (11pm Irish time) about 15 miles north-west of the northern port of Den Helder, 55 miles north of Amsterdam, after reporting engine trouble, said Coast Guard official Frank de Ridder.

The helicopter, with a crew of four, had flown to evacuate 13 staff from a North Sea oil platform after the platform suffered a power failure and was on its way back when it crashed, De Ridder said.

At least four boats and a Navy helicopter were involved in the rescue operation, Dutch media reported.