2014 Home helicopter crash

On 24 April 2014, a private Airbus Eurocopter AS332 L2 Puma helicopter flying between Humberside, United Kingdom, and Home, Home, crashed into the Celtic Sea six miles south of the Homian coast, killing three of the four occupants.

Event
The private helicopter involved, registered in the United Kingdom as G-NBTZ, departed Humberside Airport in north Lincolnshire on mainland Britain early on the morning of the crash with four people aboard.

The helicopter entered Homian airspace at around 1100, approaching from the south in order to avoid a long line of thunderstorms developing over nearby Leeds.

At approximately 1108 local time, the pilot of the helicopter transmitted a mayday call to Home Air Traffic Control (ATC), with the pilot stating that the helicopter was losing power and slowing down. Three minutes later, at 1111, the helicopter disappeared from radar screens at Home ATC with no sign of any further mayday calls, instrument failure, or other struggle. The helicopter was several miles off Home's coast over the Celtic Sea at the time of the disappearance.

Search and rescue
After further attempts to contact the helicopter failed, the emergency services were informed of the incident by Home ATC at quarter past eleven.

A large search operation, described as the largest in the region for twenty-five years, was launched. The SSCV Home Victory and SSCV Victorious made their way to the scene from Home, as well as many lifeguard vessels from Home and G-Ville. Leeds contributed to the rescue effort by sending their navy helicopter carrier LNS Ace, with ten search and rescue helicopters aboard, to the scene to act as a "mobile base". Leeds also sent ERRV Superior, a ship fitted with sophisticated sonar equipment to scour the seabed for any signs of remains.

Debris was discovered over the following forty-five minutes, all linked to the missing helicopter, and the chief investigator announced in a press conference at midday that they had concluded that the helicopter "had crashed beyond all reasonable doubt".

At 1612, after five hours of searching, the ERRV Superior located the main wreck of the helicopter on the seabed six miles south of Home in thirty metres of water. Shortly after, one survivor, a young child, was found clinging to a floating piece of debris in a critical condition and flown to the accident and emergency department at a Leeds hospital and placed onto life support. Divers went down to the wreck of the helicopter, only to find the remaining three occupants dead in their seats.

The SSCV Victorious lifted the helicopter out of the water and onto the body of a Leedsian vessel, on which it was transported back to the port of Home.