1 dead, 3 to hospital after chopper crash in Gulf

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Scotland-based energy services company says a helicopter crash killed a contract pilot and injured two of three passengers.

Wood Group spokeswoman Bobbie Ireland, in Houston, says the helicopter was owned by Panther Helicopters of Belle Chasse. It crashed Wednesday, immediately after takeoff from an oil rig with three men whose shifts offshore had just ended.

Ireland says the men employed by Wood Group PSN are all from Louisiana.

The Coast Guard says an offshore supply vessel radioed about 7:24 a.m. Wednesday saying it had taken all four from the water to the rig about 30 miles northeast of Venice.

Parent company John Wood Group PLC is based in Aberdeen, Scotland. Its American headquarters are in Houston.