North Sea Helicopter Operators Making Backup Plans After Norway Crash--Update

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.

CHC on Sunday said it was bringing in extra helicopter capacity including S-92s from Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Sikorsky helicopter unit and a Finmeccanica SpA AW139.

"We are also working on a strategic plan to provide a robust longer term solution," the company said.

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 [e-mail] and Kjetil Malkenes Hovland at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 01, 2016 08:28 ET (12:28 GMT)

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