Second pilot found dead after UAE helicopter crash

DUBAI: The second pilot of a helicopter that crashed off the coast of the United Arab Emirates has been found dead, authorities said Monday, days after he was declared missing.

A first pilot was confirmed dead on Friday after the Bell 212 helicopter went down the night before in the Gulf during a training exercise after taking off from Dubai´s Al Maktoum International Airport.

“Search teams have found the body of the second pilot of the AeroGulf helicopter that crashed off the coast of Umm Al Qaiwain,” the state news agency WAM cited the aviation authority as saying.

It added that “investigations are still underway” to determine the “circumstances of the accident”. The pilots -- an Egyptian and a South African -- had been on a training flight for AeroGulf, the UAE´s leading commercial helicopter operator. “We can confirm that both crew members have perished,” the operator said.

AeroGulf was founded in 1976 to provide services to the oil and gas industry, before expanding its services to other sectors.