All 18 Brazilian-registered AgustaWestland AW139s have been temporarily grounded as a precautionary measure, following a 19 August fatal accident.
The incident involved AW139, registration PR-SEK, flown by Brazilian offshore operator Senior Taxi Aéreo. It was performing a routine flight with two crew members and two passengers between Macaé airport and the Petrobrás P-65 oil rig, located 57nm (105km) from the Brazilian coast, and onward to Rio de Janeiro's Jacarepaguá airport when it crashed, shortly after departing the rig at 16:45 local time.
At 16:48 the aircraft's crew declared an emergency, indicating the helicopter had experienced a hydraulic systems failure. They stated their intention to return to P-65 for an emergency landing. However, the helicopter failed to complete the journey and ditched into the sea.
A combined Brazilian air force and navy rescue effort located the helicopter on 20 August, submerged at a depth of 99m and some 54nm west of the coast. There were no survivors.
The Brazilian navy and Petrobrás are jointly retrieving the aircraft. The Centro de Investigação e Prevenção de Acidentes Aeronáuticos (CENIPA), Brazil's aircraft accident investigation board, will ship the engines, gearboxes and other items to the Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial's laboratories at São José dos Campos for analysi,s with the assistance of representatives from AgustaWestland and engine supplier Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Immediately after the accident, Petrobrás asked Brazilian regulator Agéncia Nacional d'Avição Civil (ANAC) to issue a temporary grounding order for the type. ANAC granted the request, which affects 18 airframes divided between Senior Taxi Aéreo, OMNI Taxi Aéreo and Aeróleo Taxi Aéreo, all of which provide offshore services to Petrobrás and other oil companies.
Source: Flight International
