First victim recovered from Baltic helicopter crash

TALLINN - Divers have begun retrieving the bodies from a Finnish helicopter carrying 14 people which crashed into the sea off Estonia, in the country's worst aviation accident.

The first body recovered was one of the Finnish pilots, rescuers told a news conference in the Estonian capital of Tallinn. Once the second pilot is recovered, divers will move in through the cabin, retrieving the remaining passengers.

The twin-engined Sikorsky S-76 is lying 40 metres underwater on the seabed after crashing minutes after takeoff on Wednesday on a regular commercial flight from Tallinn to Helsinki.

The efforts of rescue helicopters, boats and divers from Estonia and Finland to recover those on board -- six Finnish passengers, two Finnish crew, four Estonians and two Americans -- were postponed until Thursday because of strong winds and waves several metres high.

"We have brought up a body, a pilot," said Harry Hein, head of the Estonian Border Guards, in charge of the recovery.

Estonian Police Force chief Robert Antropov would not confirm whether all passengers and crew were in the helicopter.

But he expected quick progress. "If we are lucky we will bring up all the bodies by this evening," he added.

The helicopter suddenly dived into the choppy sea near the island of Naissaar, during rough weather in the Baltic, though the Finnish helicopter company involved, Copterline, has ruled out bad weather as a factor in the crash.

An Estonian official told Reuters Interior Minister Kalle Laanet had ruled out a bomb as the cause of the crash and that technical problems or an accident could be behind it.

Government officials identified the four Estonians who were killed, including two 22-year-old women. Names of the other passengers and crew are to be released by their own countries, Estonian officials said.

Rein Porro, deputy director of Estonia's civil aviation authority, said it was the worst civil aviation accident in Estonia's history.

- REUTERS