View a map of the crash site '' `` We believe it was quite close to the platform it was supposed to be landing on , '' he added . The area is home to a number of offshore oil rigs . Lyon said he did not know which one the helicopter was heading to or where it was coming from . The RAF received its first report of the crash at 6:43 p.m. -LRB- 1:43 p.m. Eastern time -RRB- . Lyon said the Super Puma is regularly used to transport people to and from oil platforms in the North Sea and as far as he was aware it has a good safety record . Weather at the crash site is relatively good , though slight fog is hampering visibility , he said . A spokesman for BP told the UK 's Press Association : `` The 16 passengers and two crew who were on board have been accounted for and have been rescued . Three people are on the ETAP Platform and a further 15 are on the Caledonian Victory rescue vessel . `` The priority of the company is the safety of all personnel involved in this incident
LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- All 18 people aboard a helicopter that crashed off the coast of Scotland have been recovered alive , a Royal Air Force officer told CNN . A Super Puma helicopter , similar to the one in this file photo , went down about 120 miles east of Aberdeen . The Super Puma ditched about 120 miles east of Aberdeen while approaching an offshore platform . `` Everyone has been recovered from the water , '' said James Lyon , assistant controller of the RAF 's aeronautical rescue coordination center at RAF Kinloss , Scotland . `` We do n't know their condition , but we believe there are no major injuries . '' Five helicopters were scrambled when the Super Puma helicopter ditched . `` Some were recovered by helicopter and some by boat from the platform , '' Lyon told CNN . The RAF was providing helicopter assistance to the Aberdeen Coast Guard in the rescue . Lyon said earlier that rescuers had been picking up emergency signal beacons from the lifejackets of the 18 people . He did not know if the pilot transmitted a mayday before the aircraft ditched .