North Sea Helicopter Operators Making Backup Plans After Norway Crash
May 01 2016 - 8:14AM
Dow Jones News
By Robert Wall and Kjetil Malkenes Hovland
Helicopter operators serving the North Sea offshore oil and gas
industry are scrambling to make backup plans after the grounding of
one of their most commonly used models following a fatal crash on
Friday as crash investigators step up efforts to determine why the
machine went down.
An Airbus Group SE EC225 flown by CHC Helicopter Services
crashed while flying to Bergen Airport from Statoil ASA's Gullfaks
B oil field, killing all 13 people onboard. Norwegian and British
air safety regulators imposed a ban on all EC225 passenger
flights.
The cause of the accident is still not known though the
helicopter has been plagued by problems with its main gearbox that
drives the rotors.
Babcock MCS Offshore, another major operator of offshore
flights, said it had ceased operations four EC225 helicopters flown
in the U.K.
"We are working closely with our customers to provide them with
an operational alternative," it said.
The Accident Investigation Board Norway on Sunday said it was
uncertain how long the crash probe might take, though it could be
more than a year.
The process to extract information from the combined cockpit
voice and flight data recorder has started, it said. The so called
black box should provide the strongest clues to why the EC225
crashed.
The recorder is being read by Britain's Air Accident
Investigations Branch, which is aiding the probe.
"Any critical safety information will be communicated.
Completing a full investigation including all the factors leading
up to the accident will take time, experience suggests at least 12
months," Norway's crash investigators said.
The AIBN said it also is being assisted by its French
counterpart. Norway's Civil Aviation Authority and EASA would also
participate, it said.
Local police said on Sunday they were still looking for
additional helicopter parts at the crash site, and that remotely
operated underwater vehicles were searching the sea bottom to
retrieve the shattered remains of the aircraft. Police said the
helicopter's main body had been retrieved.
The parts are being taken to the Haakonsvern naval base inBergen
for examination.
A national police ID team said it hadn't yet identified the 13
people who were on board, one female and 12 men, but all are
assumed dead.
The helicopter carried oil workers from Statoil's Gullfaks B
offshore platform, including employees of companies including
Halliburton, Aker Solutions, Schlumberger, Welltec, Karsten Moholt
and Statoil. The two pilots were employed by CHC.
Including Friday's crash, 59 people have died in helicopter
accidents in Norway's offshore sector over the last five decades,
or 21% of the country's total offshore fatalities, according to the
Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority. The previous fatal chopper
accident off Norway happened in 1997.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com and Kjetil Malkenes
Hovland at kjetilmalkenes.hovland@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 01, 2016 07:59 ET (11:59 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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