Helicopter down in Gulf

The Associated Press contributed to this story

Four bodies have been recovered from an Era Aviation helicopter that went down en route to a Unocal drilling location in the Gulf of Mexico the evening of March 23.

The helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76 A under contract to Unocal, had eight passengers and two crew members aboard, and was last contacted about 70 miles south of Galveston while transporting workers to a drillship that was in transit to a drill site in Alaminos Canyon block 859 located 200 miles south of Galveston, Unocal said March 24. Rowan Cos., which owns Era, said Era and other private air and sea transportation companies were assisting in search and rescue operations by the U.S. Coast Guard out of Corpus Christi, Texas.

The passengers included four employees of Halliburton, one from Dril-Quip, two from Offshore Energy Services, all contracted to Unocal; and one Unocal employee.

The Coast Guard used infrared scanners to search waters off Galveston through the night, and the search continued March 25.