A Sikorsky helicopter carrying two crew and seven offshore workers to an oil rig in the South China Sea was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after taking off from the Kerteh Airport near Kuala Terengganu today.

Terengganu Chief Police Officer Hussin Ismail said that according to reports, the helicopter which was carrying the crew of a contractor for Esso was forced to make the emergency landing in a bushy area about two kilometres form the airport at 10.56 am.

"The reports said that one of the passengers broke an arm and has received treatment while the others only sustained very light injuries," he told Bernama.

First such incident

Hussin said that the Sikorsky helicopter belonging to Malaysian Helicopter Services (MHS) can carry a maximum of 20 passengers, adding that that this was the first such incident this year.

The cause of the emergency landing has yet to be ascertained.

It is understood that MHS provides flight services to ferry oil companies' offshore workers from the airport to their to oil rigs.