The RAF received its first report of a helicopter with 18 on board ditching in the North Sea  at 6:43 p.m. It was a Super Puma ditching about 120 miles east of Aberdeen as it approached an offshore platform in the ETAP field.

The RAF’s aeronautical rescue coordination center at RAF Kinloss was providing helicopter assistance to the Aberdeen Coast Guard. One RAF helicopter and one civilian helicopter went to the scene and two more civilian helicopters joined them there, with another RAF helicopter in support.

9.30pm UPDATE: It is not known whether or not the pilot had time to make a mayday call but it is now known that all 18 on board have been picked up. James Lyon, assistant controller at RAF Kinloss, says: ‘We have been picking up beacons from their lifejackets… Two aircraft are on the scene’. Three have been taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and and the others are being brought back to the city by a fast rescue boat.

Thursday 19th February UPDATE:  Visibility is said to heva been down to half a mile and the helicopter was in view of the platform when it hit the water. The ditched helicopter, said to be missing its tail boom, is reported to have sat upright in the water because of its flotation bags. This made escape a lot easier.

The rescue was more difficult because it took place in darkness and with a cloud base lower then the platform’s deck.  There were so many rescue units in the area that a mid-air helicopter collision was a real risk. An RAF Nimrod coordinated movements and acted successfully to defend against this possibility. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch is launching an investigation into the accident and is sending nine people to Aberdeen today.

The First Minister, Alex Salmond has thanked the rescue services for their successful efforts to avert ‘that could have been a terrible tragedy’.