Four hero pilots who saved the lives of 29 oil workers after two helicopter ditchings off the coast of Scotland have been shortlisted for a prestigious flying award.

And they will be competing against a man who fell from space.

The two crews – who have not been named – saved the lives of the workers when their EC225 Super Pumas suffered engine failures, but managed to steer the stricken choppers to safe crash-landings on the North Sea.

The pilots have been nominated in the Flightglobal Achievement Awards for their skill in what is described as a "difficult procedure".

On May 10, 2012, 14 people onboard a Bond-operated helicopter had to be rescued when their aircraft was forced to ditch into the North Sea, 25 miles off the coast of Aberdeen.

On October 22 the same year, another 19 people had to be rescued when a CHC-operated aircraft had to make an emergency landing in the sea in thick fog between Orkney and Shetland.

However, despite praise by offshore and aviation chiefs, the brave crew members will have their work cut out as they compete against Felix Baumgartner, who set a world record by free-falling further than anyone had ever done before.

The Austrian plunged 24 miles from space to New Mexico in October last year.

Also on the shortlist is Slovenian pilot Matevza Lenarcica, who claimed the world record for flying around the globe in the world's smallest aircraft.