On April 29th a North sea helicopter crashed on its return journey from Statoil’s Gullfaks B platform killing all 13 people on board. A week on from the crash here’s what we now so far from the investigation.
There were 11 passengers and two crew on the flight which was returning to Flesland Airport when it crashed just after noon.
Emergency crews were immediately scrambled with Statoil mobilised teams across the company and alongside employees from service companies affected by the crash.
The aircraft was completely destroyed when it hit rocks and exploded.
The Victims
One British man, an Italian national and 11 Norwegians were on board the helicopter flight.
There were four employees from Halliburton, three workers from Aker Solutions as well as a contractor for the company from Karsten Moholt.
Aker’s chief executive described the deaths of its employees as a “time of deep grief”.
One worker from Schlumberger and another employee from Statoil were also killed, alongside the two crew working for CHC and a Welltec employee.
Tributes have been paid across the industry to those involved with support offered to the relatives and colleagues of those who died.
UPDATE: Names of 13 on board revealed by Norwegian police.
The Investigation
Investigators have now begun the painstaking task of recovering the wreckage and collecting evidence of what took place in the moments before the crash.
Footage emerged of what appeared to be the rotor blade still spinning after becoming detached from the helicopter.
The Air Investigation Branch in Norway (AIBN) said it believed from initial findings that the incident had been caused by technical rather than human error.
Operator Shell has temporarily suspended CHC flights to its two oil fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf – the oil major said the move did not affect any of its operations in the UKCS or Europe.
Only two days ago, regulators called for checks to be carried out on all Super Puma 225s after one of the aircraft was involved in a fatal crash off Bergen in Norway.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an emergency directive calling for immediate inspections on the gearboxes of all 225s before they fly again.
In the initial aftermath of the crash it was reported the helicopter gave no Mayday call or indicated it was in trouble, a Norwegian investigator has confirmed.
The black box from the helicopter was discovered earlier this week.
Bad weather had hampered efforts by divers to search for more wreckage at the scene of the crash, with the director of the AIBN saying the body was now beginning to “put together the puzzle” of what had happened.
Journalists were given a tour of the hangar where the helicopter wreckage has been taken for further assessment and given a briefing on the next steps in analysing what happened.
Investigators have warned it could take up to a year for the final report to be published.
Flight data showed it had dropped 2,100ft in the last 10 seconds of its journey.
IN PICTURES: North Sea helicopter crashes on Norwegian coast
Industry reaction
Tributes have come form across the sector to both Statoil and the other companies involved in the crash.
The Norwegian Prime Minister said news of the crash was “terrifying”
The biggest oil union in Norway, Industry Energy, said the accident should be seen as a “wake-up call” for the industry.
Leif Sande, the leader of the union, said:“It’s about time we started a discussion about safety on the Norwegian shelf and what effect the savings programs are having on our safety, because something is wrong.
“It’s legitimate to talk about these things.”
Union bosses in the UK again renewed calls for the UK Government to revisit its decision to refuse a public inquiry into offshore helicopter safety.
A previous plea for a public inquiry had been made after four people died in a Super Puma crash near Sumburgh in Shetland in August 2013.
But the House of Commons Transport Select Committee said it had “not seen any evidence” to suggest safety was compromised by commercial pressure in October 2014.
More than 20,000 people have also now signed a petition calling for the EC225 Super Pumas to be withdrawn including the mother of an oil worker killed in a helicopter crash seven years ago.
Stuart Wood and 15 others died when their aircraft plunged into the water near Peterhead, after a catastrophic gearbox failure on April 1, 2009.
Industry body Oil & Gas UK said its thoughts were with the “family, friends and colleagues” of those killed.
Only yesterday, it was announced The Offshore Safety Awards ceremony has been postponed following the North Sea helicopter crash which claimed 13 lives.
The decision was made by organisers Step Change in Safety and Oil & Gas UK to allow both membership organisations to focus on supporting the industry and workforce following last Friday’s helicopter crash near Bergen in Norway.
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