Helikopter neergestort (vier doden) Noordzee - Shetland Islands (UK) 23-08-2013

[Doruz]

Net als boven het Nederlandse gedeelte van de Noordzee vliegen er ook in het Britse en Noorse gedeelte dag in dag uit helikopters tussen de vaste wal en de boorplatformen.
Helaas is er afgelopen week weer incident geweest:

Filmpje:
http://visserijnieuws.punt.nl/content/2013/08/Helikopter-met-18-inzittenden-stort-in-Noordzee

[Thor]

Four Killed When Offshore Services Helicopter Ditches In North Sea [UPDATE]
.

By Mike Schuler On August 23, 2013
 ..


Update 2: Police say there was a fourth person killed, BBC reports. The update said that three of the four bodies have been recovered. Police in Scotland have now confirmed 14 others have been rescued.

WATCH: RNLI Crews Recover Helicopter Wreckage

Update: BBC reports that the bodies of the 3 people missing following the crash have been found.

Three people are still missing after a Super Puma helicopter carrying passengers from a North Sea drilling rig ditched into the sea west of the Shetland Islands.

The helicopter was carrying 16 passengers and 2 crew when it went down at about 6:20 p.m. local time approximately two miles west of Sumburgh Airport, located on the southern tip of Shetland.

An update from the U.K.’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said that the Shetland Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre was notified at 6.30 p.m. by the Air Rescue Coordination Centre that they had lost contact with the Super Puma helicopter traveling from the Borgsten Dolphin semi-submersible drilling rig to Sumburgh. The Borgsten Dolphin is operated by Total SA.

The update said that so far 15 people have been accounted for and 3 people are still missing.

At least three helicopters and two RNLI lifeboats are involved in the search, along with a ferry that was initially rerouted to the scene.

The U.K.’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it has been notified of the incident and has deployed a team to investigate.

The helicopter is operated by CHC. In a statement, the company confirmed that there “has been an incident involving one of our aircraft in the North Sea” and that “the appropriate authorities have been informed and the company’s Incident Management Team is being mobilised,” according to Sky News.

Sky News reports that the helicopter was a Eurocopter Super Puma AS332

http://gcaptain.com/offshore-helicopter-ditches-in-north-sea/

[Thor]

RNLI Crews Recover Helicopter Wreckage Off Shetland [VIDEO]

Aith RNLI Lifeboat crew retrieve helicopter wreckage in Shetland


New video shows RNLI crews recovering the oilfield services Super Puma helicopter that crashed in the North Sea Friday evening. Police say that four people were killed and 14 others rescued when the helicopter ditched into the sea on its approach to Sumburgh Airport in Shetland from a North Sea drilling rig.

[Thor]

North Sea Rig Operators to Meet as CHC Suspends Super Puma Flights Following Fatal Crash
.

By Bloomberg On August 26, 2013

By Neil Callanan

Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) — Oil & Gas UK, which represents North Sea oil-and-gas operators, will meet today to discuss the implications of the temporary suspension of Super Puma helicopters following a crash in which four people died off the north Scotland coast.

The AS332L2 helicopter carrying 16 oil workers and two crew plunged into the water near the Shetland Islands on Aug. 23. Three bodies were recovered in the aftermath of the crash, while a fourth was removed from the wreckage yesterday.

SEE ALSO: Four Killed When Offshore Services Helicopter Ditches in North Sea

The helicopter was operated by CHC Helicopter Corp. for oil company Total SA to transport workers from the Borgsten Dolphin platform. Following the crash, CHC said it had “temporarily suspended” all global operations of the aircraft until more information was available.’

“CHC will not enter into any speculation as to what caused the incident but rest assured a full investigation will be carried out in which we will co-operate fully with all the regulatory bodies and share any learnings with the industry,” the company’s Western North Sea Regional Director Mark Abbey said in an e-mailed statement.

An industry safety group yesterday recommended the temporary suspension of all Super Puma commercial passenger flights to and from offshore oil and gas installations within the U.K., excluding the use of search and rescue helicopters for emergency response.

‘Cautious Approach’

The helicopter safety steering group of Step Change in Safety, which was set up by oil and gas industry trade associations to cut U.K. offshore injuries, met yesterday to discuss the crash.

“The Super Puma series of helicopters includes the following variants; AS332 L, L1, L2 and EC225,” the HSSG said in a statement on its website. “There are significant technical differences between these variants; however, until more is understood on cause of the accident, this cautious approach is appropriate.

“HSSG will closely monitor the situation and will only recommend resumption of flights by one or more of the Super Puma variants when it considers that sufficient factual information is available to support the decision.”

The Super Puma is made by the Eurocopter unit of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co.

“We all at Eurocopter are deeply saddened by this accident,” the company’s Chief executive Office Guillaume Faury told the BBC.

“This is a tragedy for all of us. We express our deepest sympathies to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives. Our thoughts are with all those affected, including the workforce in the North Sea.”

Scotland’s police force named the crash victims as Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland, Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin, Gary McCrossan, 59, from Inverness and George Allison, 57, from Winchester.


http://gcaptain.com/north-operators-meet-suspends/