Inquiry finds helicopter crash could have been prevented

Fourteen oil workers and two crew were killed when a Bond Super Puma helicopter plunged into the sea in April 2009.

A fatal accident inquiry into the circumstances of the crash was held before Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle at Aberdeen’s Town House earlier this year.

It was found that the accident might have been avoided if a number of failures by Bond had not occurred.

The inquiry heard from a witness who said the helicopter fell from the sky “like a torpedo” followed separately by its detached rotor blades.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) probe found that the aircraft suffered a “catastrophic failure” of the main rotor gearbox.

The AAIB report said that the gearbox failure caused the main rotor on the AS332-L2 model to break away and the “tail boom” was severed from the fuselage.

The inquiry focused on maintenance carried out on the helicopter’s gearbox in the weeks and months before the tragedy.

Company admission

In his findings Sheriff Pyle said: “Predictably, during the course of the inquiry there was much discussion about the circumstances which led Bond not to follow the clear terms of the maintenance. Bond readily acknowledged that they ought to have done so.

“They had little choice in making that admission given the clear terms of the manual.

“On many occasions during the inquiry it was acknowledged that the primary rule throughout the industry is that everything must be done by the book – that is to say, in accordance with the maintenance manual. There can therefore be no excuse for not doing so.”

The sheriff added that it was “certainly possible” that if Bond had carried out the maintenance they would have removed the gearbox, “on the evidence that fact has not been proved on the balance of probabilities”.

Disappointed family

Audrey Wood, who lost her son Stuart Wood in the crash, said: “On hearing the evidence at the fatal accident inquiry we were surprised and disappointed at the decision of the Crown Office not to proceed with prosecution. However, how they arrived at that decision will haunt us.

“Not only did we hear of multiple breaches of health and safety, but the decision was also made without all the evidence being present and vital witness statements had not been taken.

“Safety is absolutely paramount and everything must be done by the book. There can be no excuse for not doing this. The length of wait of nearly five years has been intolerable for all the families and we, the families, feel let down by the system.”

A statement from Bond Offshore noted that although Sheriff Principal Pyle has indicated “spalling”, internal fragmenting, was the most likely reason for the catastrophic gearbox failure “he did not find that this was not proved beyond reasonable doubt.”

“Additionally, he determined that even if we had followed the correct procedure it is by no means certain that the gearbox would have been removed, as there may not have been sufficient evidence of particles to warrant its removal.”

“We are pleased the Sheriff Principal recognised that Bond engineers understood the vital importance of their role in ensuring the safety of their pilots and passengers.

“But we have always accepted that we made mistakes through honest confusion over telephone calls and emails. We would like to express again our deep sorrow at the 16 lives lost in 2009. We owe it to their memories, and to the 160,000 men and women we carry every year, to continue to deliver the highest standards of safety in everything we do.”

Inquiry calls

Speaking at a news conference in Aberdeen, Chris Gordon, of Thompsons Solicitors, who represented some of the families, reiterated calls for a public inquiry and asked the Crown Office to revisit the question of whether there should be a prosecution.

He said: “Firstly it is five years since this accident happened. The inquiry has taken far too long.

“Many of the witnesses could simply not remember anything. It is an appalling state of affairs which the families all agree with.”

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Many of those killed worked for KCA Deutag Drilling and were returning from BP’s Miller platform at the time of the crash.