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French helicopter with 10 aboard crashes off Gabon

by Amy Judd | January 17, 2009 at 03:07 pm

246 views | 26 Recommendations | 13 comments

A helicopter carrying 10 French soldiers has crashed off the coast of Gabon in Central Africa. It is not yet known if there are any survivors.

Sarkozy has asked French Defense Minister Herve Morin to go to the scene.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said in a statement Saturday that "all available means" would be deployed to search for those aboard the helicopter.

The statement says Sarkozy immediately dispatched Defense Minister Herve Morin to the crash site.

The helicopter was carrying out joint military exercises with Gabon when it went down. No further details were immediately available.

Some more information about the crash here:

In Gabon, French military spokesman Lt. Col. Pascal Carpentier said the helicopter went down around 8 p.m. (1900 GMT) off the coast of the economic capital, Port Gentil, southwest of Libreville.
A French naval vessel that was participating in the joint training exercise was helping search for survivors along with a ship from the French oil giant Total, Carpentier said.
It was not known what caused the chopper to plunge into the frigid sea, Carpentier said.

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Fripouille

at 05:26 on January 18th, 2009

Yep, you're right there!

Military helicopters are generally smaller than commercial planes, and are often lighter and less solidly built for weight/manoeuverability reasons, but when they come down, they come down just as fast as a plane, as in terminal velocity in the case of dropping.

No updates as of 14:30 Paris time.

Fripouille

at 15:52 on January 17th, 2009

Amazing!!!!

There it is on google. I just went through five online mainstream French press outlets.

NOTHING!!

Super stuff amyjudd. That's a REAL scoop here in France!!!!!!!

Fripouille

at 15:55 on January 17th, 2009

(ps, I wrote that comment at OO:51 Paris time...)

Well done, again, and if it wasn't just editors who could work on News Wanted, I would have....

Amy Judd

at 16:01 on January 17th, 2009

Thanks - anyone can work on News Wanted stories actually though, but for now you can only add any updates in the comment section, so if you find anything please feel free to add it!

I can't find any more information at this time.

Fripouille

at 16:08 on January 17th, 2009

Le Monde has just put it up in "Latest".

It's pretty much a translated reprint of google's post.

No details yet.

158

at 20:27 on January 17th, 2009

This is one hour ago.

1 killed, 3 survive, 6 missing in French helicopter crash

www.chinaview.cn 2009-01-18 11:12:54 Print

    PARIS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- One soldier was killed, three survived, and six others were still missing in a French helicopter crash off the Gabon coast, the armed forces headquarters in Paris said early Sunday.

    Two of the survivors were injured, said the army.

    The accident occurred during a joint military drill between France and Gabon in west Africa.

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered Defense Minister Herve Morin to immediately go to the scene.

Amy Judd

at 20:41 on January 17th, 2009

Thanks for the update - I was having dinner.

Fripouille

at 01:54 on January 18th, 2009

Update 10:55 gmt.

2 dead, 1 injured, repatriated to Paris, 6 still missing. The helico was a Cougar, and it crashed into the sea shortly after take-off.

Source AFP paris (in French).

http://actu.orange.fr/articles/a-la-une/Crash-d-helicoptere-au-Gabon-un-soldat-succombe-le-bilan-s-aggravant-a-2-morts.html

Paschen

at 03:57 on January 18th, 2009

Amazing that some survived since Helicopters are usually unforgiving when they crash.

Fripouille

at 11:59 on January 18th, 2009

Now (21:00 paris time). Seven dead. (Five more bodies have been found in the wreck by divers).

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2009/01/18/01003-20090118ARTFIG00037-un-helicoptere-de-l-armee-s-abime-au-large-du-gabon-.php

(In French).

aelusive

at 21:43 on January 18th, 2009

Great story again.

Amy Judd

at 01:03 on January 19th, 2009

Thanks for the updates here everyone.

Fripouille

at 15:33 on January 19th, 2009

00:35 Paris time. 8 dead, 2 missing.

France has grounded its 17 Cougar helicos (average service life 16 years) as a precautionary measure until a preliminary enquiry establishes the likely cause of the accident.