Aerospatiale AS 350BA Ecureuil crash near off Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France

The Heli Air Monaco Ecureuil was operating the regular shuttle service from Nice Cote d'Azur airport to Monaco, a six-minute hop the company flew around fifty times a day carrying up to 100,000 passengers a year. A few minutes after take-off, cruising between 300 and 500 feet above the sea, the helicopter suddenly descended and struck the water roughly 1.2 nautical miles off Cap Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. The pilot and all four passengers were killed. Weather at the time was fine. The wreckage came to rest at a depth beyond the reach of coastguard divers, and only one body was recovered in the immediate aftermath. Two of the passengers were British, one German and one Indian. It was among the worst fatal helicopter accidents in France of the decade.