Aerogulf Bell 212 chopper crash
File photo for illustrative purposes Image Credit: Facebook/@Aerogulf

ABU DHABI: A helicopter belonging to Aerogulf crashed into the sea off the UAE coast on Thursday.

The Bell 212 helicopter took off from Al Maktoum Airport in Dubai on a night training mission with two pilots onboard. Search and rescue teams recovered the wreckage and are still searching for the crew.

The Air Accident Investigation Sector at the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said on Friday that the authority received a report of a helicopter crash off the UAE coast on Thursday, September 7 at around 8.30 pm.

The Aerogulf chopper, with registration mark A6-ALD, plunged into the Gulf sea with two pilots of Egyptian and South African nationalities onboard, GCAA said in the official statement.

The company is based at Dubai World Central (Al Maktoum) International Airport and has a fleet of aircraft including a Leonardo AW139, Bell 212 and Bell 206 helicopters.

Updates to follow