Grounded Bond helicopters to resume flying after ditching in North Sea

The helicopter operator which grounded its fleet after a Super Puma ditched in the North Sea last week is to resume normal flying.

A spokesman for Bond confirmed that the nine grounded helicopters had undergone an "incredibly rigorous inspection".

He added that the operator was "working towards getting the flights running on Tuesday".

He said the decision to resume flights was taken following the release of important data from Eurocopter. The full fleet of helicopters will return to service over the next 24 hours.

It is understood oil workers have earlier been informed of the decision.

On Thursday, a Bond helicopter carrying 12 workers and two crew 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 two crew and passengers were all safely rescued and two passengers were treated for minor injuries.

The operator of the Super Puma, Bond Aviation, had grounded its entire Aberdeen-based fleet as a precaution, pending a fuller investigation into the accident. Around 100 flights a week were affected.

Bill Munro, managing director of Bond Offshore Helicopters, said: “Bond puts safety first, above commercial considerations. We have now completed a rigorous engineering analysis and safety risk assessment of all aspects of the operation that included as part of this process an inspection of the entire fleet.

"These actions, in addition to working closely with the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the information and the assurances received from Eurocopter as the gearbox manufacturer, have allowed us to return the fleet to service”.

He added: "As a result of our detailed inspections, we are confident that there is no linkage between the gearbox-related incidents that Bond Helicopters have experienced, the causes of which have been proven to be beyond our control”

A statement from the company said: "Bond Offshore helicopters Ltd continues to work with Eurocopter and the regulatory authorities to find a permanent solution to the issues that have challenged the industry with regard to the Eurocopter EC225."

The statement added that Eurocopter have informed Bond that another helicopter the AS332L2 can be operated for a maximum of five hours providing that data from the internal Heath and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) is analysed prior to the following flight.

The statement said: "HUMS uses a variety of vibration sensors to monitor the main gearbox that includes the bevel gear shaft and the two oil pumps. It is these three components that were proven to have failed in the G-REDW incident.

"The gearbox that suffered the failure was fitted with a bevel shaft that was specifically designed for EC225 and was certified in 2004. Bond Helicopters’ three AS332L2’s are fitted with a different bevel gear shaft that has completed 4.5 million flight hours without defect. Bond Offshore Helicopters Ltd. have conducted numerous risk assessments and are now satisfied that by adhering to the HUMS monitoring system recommendations made by Eurocopter these helicopters are safe to fly pending a permanent solution to the problem."

Bond added that to ensure safe flying of the EC225 fleet further tests will be carried out.

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