Mumba: The Indian Navy and the Coast Guard on Tuesday joined the rescue operation after an ONGC helicopter carrying nine persons, including two pilots, fell into the sea off the Mumbai coast while attempting to land on a company's rig in the Arabian Sea, a defence official said.
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Six of the nine persons have been rescued so far, he said.
The Navy deployed the Seaking and ALH helicopters and Indian Naval Ship Teg for the rescue of passengers and crew of the ONGC helicopter 60 nautical miles from Mumbai.
The Coast Guard also diverted a ship to reach the spot, while another ship sailed out from Mumbai with dispatch to join the rescue operations.
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The Coast Guard aircraft also dropped life rafts for survivors and the international safety net was activated by the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (Mumbai), the defence official said.
The ONGC chopper was attempting to land at the rig, located some 50 nautical miles from the Mumbai coast, when the incident took place. About 1.5 km from the landing zone on the rig, the chopper fell into the sea, a company official said.
The circumstances that led to the incident were not immediately clear. Other details too were awaited, he said.
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has several rigs and installations in the Arabian Sea that are used to produce oil and gas from reservoirs lying below the seabed.
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