The cause of death of the victims in last Wednesday's Copterlines helicopter crash was drowning, according to the Estonian State Prosecutor's Office. Post mortem examinations had been carried out on most of the victims by Tuesday afternoon.
Twelve passengers and two crew members died when the helicopter plunged into the sea on Wednesday afternoon, a few minutes after take-off on a scheduled flight from Tallinn to Helsinki. The body of one of the two Finnish pilots is still missing, but all thirteen of the other victims apparently died in their seats.
Final results of the forensic examinations will be published in September. An Estonian police official stated that the bodies had been in remarkably good condition considering the nature of the accident, and the Finnish forensic odontologist Helena Ranta, who was among those sent over to help in the identification process, said that there had been no problems in identifying the deceased.
The cause of the crash remains a mystery, and a commission of inquiry has been set up to examine the incident. The onboard flight recorder is to be sent for analysis in Great Britain.
