Four Oil Contractors Dead In Helicopter Crash Off Scottish Coast
Credit: AP Photo/Jacques Brinon
Four people were tragically killed yesterday when a helicopter carrying oil workers crashed into the sea just off of Scotland's Shetland Islands.
According to The Huffington Post, the Super Puma L2 aircraft was carrying 16 passengers and two crew, and was operated by CHC Helicopter for France's Total.
The helicopter lost contact with air traffic control and crashed into the sea as it approached Sumburgh airport, on the coast of Shetland, a cluster of islands more than 100 miles (160 km) off the northeastern tip of mainland Scotland, on Friday. This is the fourth incident in the area involving different models of the aircraft in just over four years.
"He said it seemed to lose power and there was no time to brace," said the mother of one of the survivors. "They just dropped into the sea. He was by a window so he was able to escape that way as it rolled over."
Scottish police confirmed that three bodies had been recovered, adding that work was under way to recover the fourth body. All those killed - three men and one woman - were passengers. The fourth body is said to still rest within the wreckage.
All four passengers were contractors, with only one Total employee on board, according to a spokeswoman for Total. The others were from 12 separate contractor firms.
Unfortunately, this disaster isn't the first such incident in recent years with the Super Puma. In April 2009, all 14 passengers and two crew on a Super Puma perished when the aircraft crashed off Peterhead on the east coast of Scotland on its way back from BP's Millier oil platform. In addition, last year the crew of a Super Puma was forced to ditch the aircraft in the North Sea after a gearbox failure, while yet another incident last year saw all 19 passengers aboard a Super Puma abandon the aircraft during a flight from Aberdeen to the West Phoenix rig, west of Shetland. All 19 passengers were rescued, fortunately.
CHC said it would not speculate on the cause of the incident and it would carry out an investigation with Britain's Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB). It temporarily suspended its Super Puma L2 flights worldwide and all flights in Aberdeen. A Eurocopter spokesman said the company was supporting CHC and the authorities with their investigations. AAIB Chief Inspector Keith Conradi told the BBC that the group expects to publish a report containing safety recommendations within the next few days after reviewing the wreckage and black box data.
Bob Crow, general secretary of offshore union RMT said that workforce confidence in Super Puma aircraft had already suffered due to previous incidents.
"We will support any member who refuses to board any suspect aircraft type in light of this disaster," he said.