POOR weather has hampered efforts to recover a helicopter which crashed off the Yorkshire coast after taking off from West Lothian, killing two men.
The wreckage of the private aircraft, which plummeted 200ft into the North Sea at Selwick Bay in Flamborough on Tuesday afternoon, remained in the ocean last night.
Fog is believed to have prevented the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) from salvaging the helicopter so far, although the bodies of the victims have been recovered. It was warned that it could be weeks before the cause of the crash is discovered. There were also strong winds, a thick sea fret and damp conditions yesterday, eye-witnesses said.
Humberside Police said yesterday that officers were continuing to offer support to the families of the deceased. Their identities are not being released until all relatives have been informed, the force said.
Video footage released by the RNLI has shown lifeboat crews battling high seas to reach the scene of a helicopter crash on Tuesday. The crew from Flamborough RNLI and a second boat from Bridlington were told to abandon the rescue mission and instead search the bay for wreckage.
Flamborough RNLI crew member Cole Ibbotson said: "We could see the wreckage of the helicopter at the bottom of the cliff and could see where it had hit.
"The swell was too big for the lifeboat to get in close so we were tasked to undertake a search pattern for wreckage with Bridlington all-weather lifeboat. We recovered a number of items which we have passed on to the police.
"We are all devastated that this service didn't have a positive outcome and that we couldn't help the people on board the helicopter. Our thoughts and sympathy are very much with their family and friends."
The helicopter had taken off from an airfield near Uphall, West Lothian on Tuesday morning and was due to refuel at Humberside Airport before continuing to its destination near Retford, Nottinghamshire. It crashed at around 1:40pm into the sea near cliffs at Flamborough Head Golf Club. Witnesses reported hearing a loud "crack" before watching the helicopter plummet into the sea below high cliffs.
Edinburgh Airport has confirmed the helicopter had passed through the capital's air space but that there was "nothing to suggest anything was wrong".
A spokesman for the AAIB confirmed that a team had been sent to the scene to investigate the fatal crash.
A spokeswoman for Humberside Police said that the force was "continuing to support the investigation."
She added: "The investigation into the incident which resulted in the aircraft crashing into the sea is being led by the Air Accident Investigation Branch.
"Police are working alongside the AAIB and are offering support to the families of the deceased who lost their lives in the incident. The identities of those involved can only be confirmed when all necessary information has been gathered and next of kin have been made aware."
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