Respects are being paid to the 16 people who lost their lives in the 2009 Super Puma incident on its 14th anniversary.
There will be a gathering at midday on Saturday in Aberdeen’s Johnston Gardens to hold a minute’s silence as a piper plays a lament to remember those who lost their lives on 1 April 2009 when Flight 85N went down.
UK oil and gas Chaplain Gordon Craig said: “I think it’s important that we remember such incidents in the industry for two reasons.
“One, to allow the families to know that we as an industry are remembering their loss. And secondly, hopefully, the lessons learned, we remember too and the likelihood of anything like this happening again is decreased.”
The UK oil and gas chaplain says that although 14 years may not be considered a big anniversary, it is still important to those who lost loved ones.
“As the years go on, for the families it makes little difference. Their loss is still hard and they will never forget it and neither should we.”
Steve Rae, Piper Alpha survivor and executive director of Step Change in Safety, commented: “Despite the passing of 14 years it’s important we take time out to remember, pay tribute, and continue to reinforce the lessons from this tragedy.
“We must also take time to think of the families, friends, and colleagues of the 14 offshore workers and two pilots who died.
“The 1st of April remains a timely reminder to everyone in the energy industry that complacency around any safety issue should never be permitted to creep in, we must all remain vigilant.”
The Bond-operated Super Puma came down on April 1, 2009, around 12 miles from Peterhead, on its way back from the Miller field in the North Sea.
Investigators pointed to catastrophic gearbox failure as the probable cause of the accident and now the Super Puma helicopter is no longer in service in the North Sea.