With chances of finding survivors remote, efforts are now on to lift the wreckage of the helicopter, which plunged into the Arabian Sea while ferrying 29 persons from a Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited rig 35km off the Mumbai coast.

At least seven vessels of the ONGC, Indian Navy and the Coast Guard along with divers are trying to lift the wreckage of the Mi-72 helicopter, which lies 180 metres east of the Sagar Kiran rig.

The aircraft belongs to Mesco Aviation. It was found upside down early in the morning and since been straightened, an ONGC official said adding, "The passengers are feared trapped inside."

So far, bodies of an ONGC employee and two members of the crew have been found while two other ONGC employees survived the crash.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation chief Satindra Singh and Deputy Director (Inspector of Accident) V K Chandana visited the site of the crash.

Authorities are searching for the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which could provide clues to the cause of the crash.

More reports from Maharashtra