Petrobra Oil Field Chopper Crashes off Coastal Brazil

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Contact photographer André Martinis

What: Senior Táxi Aéreo Agusta Westland AW139 from oil platform to Rio de Janeiro
Where: in the Campos Basin, Rio de Janeiro
When: August 19, 2011, 17:15
Who: 4 aboard, 4 fatalities
Why: On Friday afternoon, the chopper charted to Brazilian oil major Petrobras set out from the PetrobrasP-65 platform en route to Macaé.

While miles from shore, the crew declared emergency, and went down 100 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Contact with the chopper was lost at 17:00 local time.

A Bandeirante Patrol plane and two search Brazilian military aircraft, the 4th Squadron of the 7th Aviation Group, a H-34 Super Puma helicopter, and the 3rd Squadron of the 8th Aviation Group initiated a search for the downed Senior Táxi helicopter. In all, there were five aircraft, a helicopter and four ships, including a Guajará Navy patrol vessel and a Lynx helicopter on standby in the area.

After two days of searching in rough seas, three bodies were found on the ocean floor 100 meters down and 62 miles from the coast. One body is still somewhere in the ocean.

The fatalities are listed as Rommel Oliveira Garcia, pilot, Lauro Pinto Haytzann, co-pilot, both employees of Senior Air Taxis, and passengers Ricardo Leal de Oliveira from the company Engevix, and Joao Carlos Pereira da Silva, the Brasitest inspector.