A helicopter with 18 people on board crashed on Thursday into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Canada’s Newfoundland province while en route to an oil rig.

One survivor has been plucked from the icy waters, said public broadcaster CBC, but seventeen are still missing.

A search and rescue operation was under way, said Gerry Grychowski, a spokeswoman for the Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax.

Two people and a raft had been spotted in the ocean waters some 47 nautical miles (54 miles) southeast of Saint Johns, Newfoundland, soon after the crash at 9.18am local time (1248 GMT), she said.

The helicopter was ferrying workers to the Hibernia offshore oil platform when it plunged into the ocean, amid strong winds, she said.

Two rescue helicopters and a coast guard vessel were dispatched, and a Hercules military aircraft and a merchant ship quickly arrived at the scene.

The aircraft is owned by Cougar Helicopters of St John’s

CBC said a debris field was located.

The lone survivor was picked up by a civilian helicopter owned by the same company as the downed chopper.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk