A helicopter carrying 17 oil rig workers and two crew crash-landed into the North Sea today at about 3.30pm. All those on board are reported safe and well, and there were no injuries.
The helicopter made what is know as a "controlled ditching" and the operation to bring it down safely was greatly helped by the good weather conditions. The ditching took place between Orkney and Shetland, roughly 14 miles west of Fair Isle. The workers on board were oil change crew being transported from Aberdeen to the West Phoenix drilling rig, and the helicopter was a CHC EC225 Super Puma.
Shetland Coastguard co-ordinated the rescue operation and those on board were airlifted to Kirkwall on Orkney.
Three RNLI lifeboats were launched from Kirkwall in Orkney and Aith and Lerwick in Shetland, and a rescue craft was also sent from the Nord Nightingale vessel which was close to the scene, about 32 miles south-west of Shetland. Rescue helicopters from the coastguard, RAF Lossiemouth and Bond were also launched.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are aware that a helicopter has ditched in the North Sea, south of Sumburgh. And we understand that all 19 people on board are now safe and well following the dispatch of emergency services to the site. Scottish ministers are being kept updated on the situation and we will release further information when it becomes known."
The BBC Scotland Correspondent James Cook reported that today's ditching was "the fourth serious incident involving this type of helicopter in the North Sea in the past four years".
In May this year, he said, "all 14 people on board a Super Puma EC 225 were rescued when their helicopter came down around 30 miles off the coast of Aberdeen during a flight to an oil rig", and in April 2009, a different model of the Super Puma aircraft was returning from BP's Miller oil platform when it suffered gearbox failure and crashed off Peterhead, killing all 16 people on board. In February of that year, a Super Puma EC 225 ditched in fog 125 miles east of Aberdeen. All 18 people on board survived.
