Washington  - Seventeen people were missing after a helicopter crashed into the Atlantic Ocean Thursday while taking workers to an oil platform off Canada's coast, authorities said.

The helicopter departed from Saint John's, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador on its way to the Hibernia oil platform when in crashed in the cold waters, said Jeri Grychowski, spokeswoman for the Joint Rescue and Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

There were 18 people on board and one person has been recovered near the wreckage site located about 87 kilometres southeast of Saint John's, she said.

Two planes, two helicopters and a surface ship were involved in ongoing rescue operations, Grychowski said. dpa