Tributes to helicopter co-pilot

Co-pilot Richard Menzies was among 16 people killed in the North Sea crash

Tributes have been paid to a 24-year-old who died when a helicopter crashed in the North Sea.

Co-pilot Richard Menzies, from Droitwich Spa, Worcerstershire, was among 16 people killed in the crash off the Aberdeenshire coast on Wednesday.

Clive Corbett, his former headteacher, at Pershore High School said he had been a lovely young man.

Mr Menzies learned to fly in Leominster. He was flying the Super Puma for an Aberdeen firm when he died.

Mr Corbett said: "He will be sadly missed.

'Independent spirit'

"We knew him for six years, between 1997 and 2003.

"He was a fun young man, an independent spirit and he had a great sense of fun.

"It's an enormous loss, and we would like to pass all our sympathies, from everyone at Pershore, onto his father, and of course his sister Laura."

Investigations into the crash are continuing.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has chartered the survey vessel Vigilant to begin its investigations.