Date: 20 Oct 2003
Time: 10:21
The US Coast Guard has ended its search for three crewman of a commercial helicopter missing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI) notified the Coast Guard around 11:30 a.m. on Friday 10th October 2003 that one of their helicopter crews had failed to report in after beginning a landing approach to a rig 70 miles south of Cameron, La. in the West Cameron Block, 509.
At 5:22 p.m on 10 October, an offshore supply boat picked up the signal from the missing helicopters radio beacon in the same area where it was last reported. Search crews determined the beacon was transmitting from underwater. An oil sheen and debris from the helicopter were also located in the same area.
More than 24 searches through Friday, Saturday and Sunday with many helicopters, jets and boats yielded no results, exhausting Coast Guard search efforts.
Crews involved in the search included Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters, from Air Station Houston and Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jets, from Aviation Training Center Mobile, Alabama and Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. Multiple helicopters and boats were also used by PHI to assist the search.