More detail on this person: Copter Crash at Sea Kills 2 of 5 on Way To Offshore Oil Rig ATLANTIC CITY, May 7 (AP)-Two men were killed and three were injured today when a twin?engine helicopter flying workmen and Government officials to an offshoe oiler rig plunged into the water 40 miles east of here, the Coast Guard said. One body was pulled from tne Atlantic Ocean late?in the afternoon, and another was discovered trapped in the cockpit of the 18?passenger craft, said Lieut. Wayne gronlund of the Coast Guard. "Ther'es one dead man recovered, and our divers have seen the body of the second man, but they haven't recovered it as yet," the lieutenant said. It was the first fatal accident off Jersey related to oil drilling, which began last month. Three men were taken to the Atlantic City Medical Center in Pomona after the helicopter, a French?made Puma, went down at about 12:30 P.M. The co?pilot, identified as Paul Perrino of Ludlow, Vt., was killed. The other vicIim was identified as William Gazdik of Wheaton, Md., a mining engineer and assistant regional conservation manager for the United States Geological Survey. The injured were listed as Jack Willock, 46 years old, of Springfield, Va., an employee of the United States Geological Survey, admitted to the hospital in critical condition with multiple injuries; Don Gilam, 41, of New Orleans, the pilot, in satisfactory condition, and Jerry Jackson, 32, of Mararo, La., an employee of the Sperryson Well Surveying Company, in satisfactory condition. The helicopter was owned by Petroleum Helicopters Inc. and was based here. It was en route to the Shell Oil Company's semi?submersible rig Western PPacesetter I. Carl Dougherty, vice president for operations for Petroleum Helicopters in Lafayette, La., said in a phone interview that the crash had been caused by "mechanical malfunction." "He was having problems, so he tried to set it down in the water," said Mr. Dougherty, who was in touch with authorities at the scene. He said the craft apparently was out of control when it hit the water on its side. It flipped over and was floating upside down when thes Coast Guard reached the scene. Three Coast Guard helicopters and a cutter went to the rescue, and three injured crewmen were lifted from a life raft. A helicopter containing Exxon workmen also went to the scene. "When we got there, the helicopter was gone," said Roger Hairr of New Orleans, a geologist who works aboard Exxon's drillship Glomar Pacific. 'I could only see a pontoon and piece of blade sticking out."
Burial information: Pleasant View Cemetery, Ludlow, VT
This information was last updated 03/23/2020
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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