Passengers and crew from a helicopter that was forced to land on the North Sea after its warning light came on have all arrived safely back on land.

Please wait while this video loads. If it doesn't load after a few seconds you may need to have Adobe Flash installed.

Twelve passengers and two crew members scrambled on to life rafts after the the EC225 Super Puma helicopter descended towards the sea 25 miles (40km) off the coast of Aberdeen shortly after midday.

The two pilots made the controlled descent after the aircraft's warning light came on, indicating low oil pressure. A major rescue operation involving the coastgard and RAF helicopters, along with the two lifeboats, was launched after an SOS call was made.

Nine of the men were flown to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and another five were taken to the hospital by lifeboat.

Hospital consultant, James Ferguson, said: "All nine men admitted to the accident and emergency (A&E) department this afternoon are in good spirits and eight have been been discharged.

"One patient has been kept in for observation as a precaution."

The helicopter was operated by Bond Offshore and had been on its way from Aberdeen to the offshore Maersk Resilient rig nand the Ensco 102 rig.

Rig support

Rig operator Conoco Philips said the passengers were contractors on their way to support the drilling rigs.

The ditching was the latest in a series of incidents involving helicopters in the North Sea.

Sixteen people died on April 1 2009 when a Super Puma plunged into the sea when its gearbox failed while carrying the men to Aberdeen.

The 14 passengers and two crew were returning from BP's Miller platform when it went down 11 miles (18km) north-east of Peterhead.

In February 2009, 18 people survived after a helicopter ditched in the North Sea.

The Bond Offshore Super Puma helicopter went down 125 miles (201km) east of Aberdeen at around 6.40pm on February 18.

Eighteen people were rescued with only minor injuries.