Helicopter carrying 18 people crashes in Atlantic off Canada

MOSCOW. March 13. KAZINFORM. A helicopter with 18 oil workers on board crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland on Thursday after reporting "mechanical problems," Canadian media reported.

At least one person has been rescued from the water and taken to a hospital, while two other people were spotted in the water, a spokeswoman for the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax told the Canadian Press. The S-92 Sikorsky helicopter, which was used to bring personnel to an offshore oil platform, crashed some 100 kilometers from the east coast of Newfoundland, the agency reported. "There's no sign of the helicopter," the spokeswoman said. "Mechanical problems were reported and we don't know of what nature." A search operation is underway; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.