Occupants survive chopper crash in sea
   By: AP    June 19, 2005

Kuala Lumpur: A helicopter carrying employees of oil giant Shell crashed in the sea near an offshore rig in the South China Sea, but all 13 occupants including a Briton and two New Zealanders survived without major injuries, a news report said.

The Super Puma EC225 helicopter, with two pilots and 11 Shell Malaysia employees aboard, went down yesterday after nearly completing its one-hour flight from Miri in Sarawak state on Borneo island to the company's rig, the New Sunday Times reported.

It said the occupants, who were wearing life jackets, evacuated the aircraft before it sank and were rescued by a passing boat. The newspaper quoted Dennis Lloyd, the lone Briton on the helicopter, as saying that the two pilots handled the aircraft with confidence as it started plunging into the sea, and everyone was able to get out within minutes after it touched water.

``We were all scrambling to save our lives ... we were able to swim because we were wearing life jackets,'' he was quoted as saying.