THE crew of a Super Puma helicopter which crashed into the North Sea have been blamed for the accident – and safety chiefs want a review to make sure it never happens again.
Eighteen men had to be rescued from icy waters after the Bond Offshore aircraft missed BP’s Etap platform in dark and foggy conditions.
The investigation into the crash – published today by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) – made 27 safety recommendations to the UK Government.
It said the two pilots were not aware the helicopter was descending towards the sea until it hit the surface 125 miles east of Aberdeen.
Pilot Michael Tweedie could not see the helideck and started to ask the co-pilot “who’s landing” when the aircraft hit the sea.
“The crew’s perception of the position and orientation of the helicopter relative to the platform during the final approach was erroneous,” the report said. “Neither crew member was aware the helicopter was descending towards the sea.”
It said they were likely to be suffering from illusions – caused by the weather conditions and the lighting on the platform – which warped their perception of where the helicopter was. Their final approach was also confused by the reflection of the platform on the sea.
The report also reveals that an altitude warning system, which would have warned them that they were close to the water, did not activate.
It describes the helicopter descending to 300ft, but it entered heavy cloud and so climbed to 400ft.
The Super Puma again descended to 300ft but more heavy cloud forced it to climb back to 400ft
At 400ft the crew could again see the platform and continued their approach.
The report said: “The aircrew were preoccupied with the visual identification of the helideck and were unaware of the continued descent or of increasing pitch-up of the aircraft and the consequent reduction in airspeed.
“An erroneous perception that the aircraft was in level flight despite increasing pitch-up led to a visual perception that the platform was below them and of the aircraft remaining at a safe height above the sea.”
It also found the pilots were focused on the platform, and not the instruments in the helicopter which could have indicated where they were.
A major rescue operation was launched involving an RAF Nimrod, RAF Sea King helicopter, civilian aircraft and boats after the Super Puma EC225 model went down at around 6.40pm on February 18, 2009.
Three men were winched from a lifeboat to a helicopter and taken to the nearby oil platform before being airlifted to Aberdeen.
The remaining 15 – including Mr Tweedie, 50, of Monymusk – were taken aboard the Caledonian Victory standby boat which docked at Aberdeen the next morning.
A lengthy catalogue of recommendations have now been sent to UK Transport Secretary Philip Hammond.
It says the Civil Aviation Authority should review procedures set out by helicopter operators to make sure one member of the flight crew is always monitoring the instruments on approach.
It calls for the European Aviation Safety Agency to ensure all helicopters have a system that immediately indicates when altitude warning devices – known as TAWS – stop working.
It also calls for an investigation of what visual illusions are generated during approaches to platforms at night and in poor visibility, and recommends that people who conduct weather observations from boats and platforms are properly trained to measure cloud and visibility to better inform pilots.
A new standard of lighting on helidecks is also suggested.
The helicopter’s fuselage was returned to Aberdeen three days after the crash.
It was transported to the AAIB’s headquarters at Farnborough. The tail boom was recovered by divers almost a week later and was also sent to the AAIB.
Bond Offshore Helicopters managing director, Bill Munro, said: “All recommendations immediately relevant to Bond, based on the AAIB’s two Special Bulletins in 2009, have already been fully implemented. The final report does not require any further actions by Bond.
“We await further direction, if any, from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority, following recommendations relevant to them in the final report.
“Improvements which have already been implemented by Bond and the wider industry significantly enhanced the safety of operations which continues to be the highest priority.”
The AAIB is continuing to investigate the flight 85N North Sea helicopter crash – on April 1, 2009 – which killed 16 men.