NTSB begins investigation into Gulf of Mexico helicopter crash

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the crash of a Bell 206 helicopter 90 miles south of Houma, La.

The helicopter (tail number N207MY) “crashed in the water while on approach to an oil rig platform. The two persons on board were fatally injured,” according to preliminary data released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Bell 206-L4 was manufactured in 2000 and registered to Coy Leasing LLC of Broussard, La., according to FAA records.

U.S. Coast Guard personnel based in New Orleans received a report of a downed helicopter on Wednesday at 2:40 p.m. Crewmembers on the rig deployed a life raft and reported the aircraft sank below the water.

A MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, a HC-130 Ocean Sentry aircraft from Mobile, Ala., and a 87-foot patrol boat from Grand Isle was dispatched to the area to search for survivors.