A pioneering new safety system that will track the movement of all offshore helicopters will go live in the North Sea next month, the Press and Journal can reveal.
Following a bleak month for aircraft safety, in which one North Sea helicopter crashed and an entire fleet was grounded, industry body Oil and Gas UK has confirmed that its new scheme is ready for launch, almost five years after the plans were first drawn up.
The project – a joint venture with National Air Traffic Services (Nats) – will allow air traffic controllers in Aberdeen to see exactly where each aircraft is without radar.
The £5million system relies on the transponders fitted to offshore helicopters and other aircraft, alongside new transmitter-receivers being installed on 16 oil and gas platforms.
Together, they provide air traffic control with a “virtual” radar plot of helicopter and other aircraft positions.
It is the first time such technology has been applied to offshore helicopters and will allow controllers to watch the aircraft all the way to their destination.
The first four transmitters are now in place and will become operational next month. The remaining 12 will be installed before the end of the year.
Jake Molloy, regional organiser for the RMT union in Aberdeen, said the system could prove a huge asset in emergency situations.
He said: “Anything which improves safety in the industry is welcomed and this will improve survivability. If a helicopter is to crash, this will allow its exact location to be passed on to rescuers.”
The system can operate with just three receivers offshore but equipment is being fitted to 16 platforms, divided into four clusters, to ensure “maximum coverage”.
Once a transponder-equipped helicopter enters the area of a cluster, it responds to a signal, which is then detected by receivers on each of the four platforms.
The new system will also be able to detect fixed-wing aircraft, such as military jets, “drastically” reducing the risk of mid-air crashes or close calls such as one involving a helicopter and a military aircraft in 2004. A similar system is used to move aircraft around Heathrow Airport.
Oil and Gas UK director Chris Allen said the system would “substantially enhance” the safety of offshore helicopter flights and help pinpoint helicopter locations during emergencies.
The system’s arrival will be welcome news for the industry following a string of helicopter safety incidents in recent months.
Operators agreed on Monday to stop issuing personal locator beacons, equipment used to find workers if they fall into the water, following the discovery that they could interfere with helicopter equipment.
Days earlier, all Sikorsky S-92 helicopters were grounded amid fears that they suffered the same gearbox problem believed to have caused a crash in Canada that claimed the lives of 17 people flying to oil rigs off the coast of Newfoundland.
On February 18, a Bond Super Puma helicopter with 18 people on board crashed in the North Sea, 125 miles east of Aberdeen. Everyone on board survived.
An interim report into the incident was published by the Department for Transport’s Air Accident Investigation Branch this morning.