CHC Helicopter has confirmed that one of its H225 Super Puma transports crashed on the Norwegian coast on 29 April, resulting in 13 fatalities.
The Airbus Helicopters-built rotorcraft had been conducting flight HKS 241 from the Gullfaks B oil platform in the North Sea with a crew of two and 11 passengers. All died in the incident, it confirms.
The accident happened on the coast near Turoey as the helicopter was nearing Bergen’s Flesland airport, CHC says. The aircraft was being used to transport workers employed by Statoil. The operator says it is in contact with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre overseeing the response to the accident.
“Out of respect for passengers and crewmembers, all flights with the aircraft type H225 have been stopped in the Norwegian sector,” CHC says. “Flights with other aircraft are temporarily halted, and will be continuously evaluated.”
Following a series of aircraft losses several years ago, a number of safety measures were called for by safety bodies in Europe to prevent the likelihood of another crash during offshore transportation.
The latest incident is seemingly the first serious North Sea incident since a CHC Scotia-operated Airbus Helicopters AS332 L2 came down on approach to Sumburgh airport, Shetland, in 2013, killing four of the 16 people on board.
CHC Helicopter
Airbus has offered its sympathies to the victims and their relatives, while noting that safety is the company’s “top priority”. It says it is offering support to CHC and accident investigators.
“Airbus Helicopters teams are fully mobilised to understand the root cause of the accident,” it says. “At this time we do not have any further information and we will provide a relevant update as it becomes available.”
Source: FlightGlobal.com
