Bodies of four people recovered from Gulf of Mexico days after helicopter crash
The bodies of David Scarborough and three others were recovered Tuesday, five days after the helicopter they were riding back to shore went down in the Gulf of Mexico, family of one of the oil platform workers confirmed.
“My DAVE-O is coming home! All of them! We are rejoicing! I love you David, times all the waves in the sea,” David Scarborough’s wife, Lacy, posted on Facebook. Three private companies involved in the recovery efforts also confirmed the bodies had been recovered.
David Scarborough, 36, of the Lizana community in Harrison County, was one of three oil rig workers and the pilot who died in the crash.
The helicopter and four bodies are on shore at Port Fourchon, WLOX-TV reported.
The Coast Guard searched for eight hours by plane and boat after the chopper went down shortly after taking off from an oil platform about 10 miles off Southern Pass, Louisiana Thursday, Dec. 29.
Crews searched 180 square miles of the Gulf near the site at 8:40 a.m. Coast Guard photos showed debris from the helicopter in the water near the oil rig.
David’s wife, Lacy Scarborough, told the Sun Herald David was leaving the oil rig to head home. They had planned on celebrating Christmas together when he returned, she said.
Lacy and David Scarborough were also preparing to welcome a baby boy in April. The new baby will likely be born a little more than a year after the couple lost their 2-year-old son, Sawyer, in a drowning in March 2022.
He worked for Island Operating Company, based in the Lafayette area, and had just received a promotion, his wife told the Sun Herald.
The helicopter crash in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday was the third serious accident this year for the Broussard, Louisiana based aircraft operator Rotorcraft Leasing Co., according to federal records and the U.S. Coast Guard.
This story was originally published January 3, 2023 at 11:50 AM.
