Shetland helicopter crash: Family speak of agony

THE family of the first woman to be killed in the North Sea oil industry spoke yesterday of their agony at not knowing whether her body had been found.

Sarah Darnley’s father Edmund, 81, and mother Anne, 73, said: “The worst is not knowing – the waiting is terrible. When we first heard about the accident, we tried to get hold of her by phone, text and e-mail. But we could not get through to her.

“Our worst nightmare came true at 11:30pm on Friday when a policeman came to the door to tell us Sarah had been killed. We believe the bodies were trapped in the wreckage and one has not been found. No-one is able to tell us yet if it is Sarah.”

Darnley was educated at Elgin High School and started work at Asda. Her sister Angela, 44, said she had always wanted to work in the oil industry.

She said: “She loved her work. She was passionate about it and never expressed any fears about travelling in helicopters, despite the dreadful previous incidents.

“She simply put it to the back of her mind. She had complete faith in them. Working off-shore enabled her to pursue her love of travelling. She worked in the Falkland Islands, the Congo and Turkey as well as the North Sea.”