Norwegian AS350 lost in Germany
Dec 05, 2012
Two people lost their lives after a Norwegian helicopter disappeared under unknown circumstances on a flight between Lübeck in Germany and Halmstad in Sweden on 5 December. The aircraft, an AS350, went missing around 14:00, while situated over the Bay of Lübeck. The pilot was from Norway and the other person, who was employed by the costumer for the mission, was a Romanian citizen.
On Thursday, 6 December, a waterproof backpack with personal items and a laptop was found at the beach of Pelzerhaken, north of the bay. The content later turned out to belong to the passenger.
On Thursday, 13 December, the submerged AS350 was found by the German mine hunter Passau. Passau is one of several ships that have been scanning the seabed for the ditched aircraft the past days. Two bodies were soon found in the vicinity, within 50 meters of the helicopter. They were later identified as the two occupants.
On Saturday, 15 December, ten days after the accident, the aircraft was salvaged from the sea.
The massive search and rescue operation was coordinated by the German rescue center in Glüksburg for many days, but as the extensive action gradually turned into a meticulous search enterprise the police in Lübeck took over the responsibility. Several ships from the German Navy were engaged in thorough sonar searches over the seabed in large parts of the bay.
The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is currently being examined by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) in Braunschweig.
The Neustadt Police made a statement regarding a technical abnormality in its initial findings, but that is irrelevant until BFU has made a thorough examination of the whole event and the complete aircraft, with all contributing factors, and left a formal statement or report.