Passenger helicopter down in Estonia
 

This is travel related. Even though you don´t get FF-miles for flying this copterline. www.copterline.fi

Here´s a link to a news story. Sad thing. 12 pax dead. 6 Finns, 4 Estonians and 2 Americans + 2 pilots.
http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/engli.../1101980551645

Sad news. I know I have used the hydrofoil for the trip between Hesinki and Tallin before and wished, after a 2 hour trip each way, that I could have flown. RIP.

Heard about this a few hours ago. Aren't they still searching the waters?

This is a commercially scheduled helicopter according to some Nordic news sources. Anyone know if it's operated in conjunction with any airlines?

Edited for Update: I see that it's mentioned they are dead. :( RIP.

There is a company that runs scheduled helicopter services between Tallinn and Helsinki. I believe it is called Copterline. I looked into this option for a day trip from Helsinki to Tallinn that I took in June, but decided it was too expensive relative to the high speed ferry. It cuts the normally 90 minute trip down to 20 minutes.

Some sources say an Estonian cabinet minister took the same chopper earlier today for a visit to Helsinki. Considering the strained relationship between Russia and it's Baltic ex-colonies I'm sure conspiracy theories centered on this will be all around soon.

I'm in Helsinki now and a Finnish friend said apparently there were 14 deaths. Very sad.

What a pity that such will happen yet again. Sometimes people die in an accident and most all times the accident is just that. The Sudanese SPLM/SPLA Garang's death in a chopper not too long ago is just one example where the most convoluted fictions sold better than a more boring, less self-serving truth.

An eyewitness from a local port reported hearing two loud bangs before the chopper nosedived into the sea. Estonian interior ministry is looking at three crash causes: stormy weather, mechanical failure or terrorist act. It is not clear yet why the self-inflatable floating rafts which were supposed to keep the chopper afloat did not inflate at the time of the crash.

I have taken this chopper ride several times and I cannot say that it is very enjoyable. Apart from loud noise it flies very low above water which leaves a strange feeling of a crashing plane. May the crash victims RIP.

Wow... Thats scary. I've taken this flight as well... And I was not comfortable during it at all. We were low the whole time - and in and out of clouds. I remember thinking that the water looks really unwelcome.... Real shame.

.... and it doesn't necessarily feel much better in a boat than it looks either.

As someone who commutes a few times each week between Helsinki and Tallinn, I was taken aback by this event. I am in Tallinn today heading for St. Petersburg and then on to Helsinki via cruise ship. Working between the two cities (Helsinki and Tallinn) is incredibly easy because of the number of affordable, timely options. I rarely take Copterline unless I have same-day meeting in the two cities. The heliports used by Copterline in both cities are adjacent to the cruise ports (50m in Helsinki and 200m in Tallinn), and with 18 minute commutes it is effortless. However as PresRDC stated, at 50-70 Euros each way, it is not the cheapest alternative. Tallinnk drops me at the same harbors in Helsinki and Tallinn as the cruise ships at a fraction of the cost.

It’s incredibly sad news.

Sam

According to latest information crash was caused by rotor blades breaking off after either hitting a large bird or metal fatigue. Two bangs were caused after one blade broke off and another two hit it causing them to break too.

Television crews were banned from filming the rescue operation and an exclusion zone was created by police.

Body of one pilot is missing even though the chopper left TLL with two pilots onboard and when it was found then its doors were closed and windows intact.

Six victims who were finns were all top ranking officials and inspectors at finnish workcover authority.

The window of the missing pilot was broken according to Finnish broadcasting comapany YLE. Both pilots' seat belts were open.