A helicopter has crashed into the sea with three people aboard while attempting to land on board 60m motoryacht Bacarella, according to reports from Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende.
The accident occurred at 09:00pm yesterday evening when the superyacht was anchored in Sandviken, Norway. Three people were rushed to the hospital as a result, with one of them receiving “lifesaving treatment on the spot”.
Witnesses have confirmed to BT that the helicopter had tried to land on M/Y Bacarella before something went awry, seeing the aircraft roll and crash into the sea. They reported that the helicopter had touched down on the yacht’s upper deck without problems at first, only to tumble off after something aft of the yacht got caught in the rotor.
Witness Espen Haagensen reported to BT that a cloud of smoke or water suddenly ‘went up’ during the incident.
Local police deployed lifeboats and divers shortly after the incident, but retrieved no missing persons. They revealed that they would continue to investigate the incident the following morning, but could not comment on events.
Jan-Tore Heggholmen, operations manager of the Western Police District said, “It is too early to say anything about the cause of the accident. Several witnesses were questioned on Wednesday evening and during the night, but there are still many witnesses to be heard.”
Blood samples were taken from the three men, although Heggholmen confirmed that there was no suspicion of foul play or intoxication at this stage.
The helicopter wreck, which was registered to British company HQ Aviation, was retrieved from the sea by local authorities to be used as part of their investigation, showing severe damage to its windows, rotor and tail..It’s thought that it was being delivered for use by the yacht’s owners, who were not on board the yacht at the time of the incident
Barcarella was built by Trinity in 2009 with custom interiors by Bannenberg & Rowell, sold in a sealed-bid auction in 2014 at a price of over ¢30 million.
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