Task force meeting in wake of helicopters grounded by gearbox fault

Oil industry experts are meeting on Monday to examine a detailed report on last week’s Super Puma ditching.

The Bond helicopter carrying 12 workers to an offshore platform plunged into the North Sea in what was described as a “controlled ditching”.

The EC225 model aircraft was forced to ditch in rough seas, around 28 miles from Aberdeen. The crew and passengers were all safely rescued and two passengers were treated for minor injuries.

RMT and Unite officials as well as North Sea oil industry employers, safety experts and the main helicopter operators in Aberdeen will meet on Monday to go over a report which found a crack in the main gearbox shaft caused the lubrication system to fail.

The operator of the Super Puma, Bond Aviation, has grounded its entire Aberdeen-based fleet as a precaution, pending a fuller investigation into the accident.

The decision is likely to cause heavy disruption to the movement of workers to and from installations.

A spokesman for Bond said the decision effected nine helicopters. He added that Bond’s other helicopter bases are located in Blackpool and Norwich and that they had an additional seven aircraft. They are looking at utilising these helicopters but no decision has yet been made.

He said: “Bond is taking this very seriously and need to hear from the regulators before a decision is made. Our priority is on safe flying."

The Helicopter Safety Steering Group, which was set up partly in response to the 2009 Super Puma crash in which 16 passengers and crew were killed, will also be involved in the meeting.

The 2009 crash was blamed on a "catastrophic failure" of the aircraft’s gearbox.

The group includes the offshore unions, the Health and Safety Executive, helicopter operators, oil and gas operators and contractors, as well as the Civil Aviation Authority.

Jake Molloy, of the RMT Union, said he had a number of concerns to raise at the meeting arising from the report and also looking at Bond’s operations.

He said: “I will be raising the concerns of our members at the meeting. There are obvious concerns about the nature of the failure.”

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