Yesterday’s AAIB report gave details of the moments leading up to the incident.
It states the helicopter was on a scheduled flight from Aberdeen Airport to the Maersk Resilient platform, in the North Sea 150 nautical miles east of Aberdeen.
On board were two flight crew and 12 passengers. The helicopter was in cruise at 3,000ft with the autopilot engaged and at an approximate speed of 143 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS), 34 nautical miles east of Aber-deen Airport, the crew were presented, almost simultaneously with seven warning indications.
The commander assumed control of the helicopter reduced the speed towards 80 KIAS, turned back towards the coast and initiated a descent. The crew activated the emergency lubrication system.
During the descent there was another warning light displayed which indicated there had been a loss of the emergency lubrication. The associated procedure for this is to land immediately.
The commander briefed the passengers and carried out a controlled ditching. The total flight time was 27 minutes.
The helicopter remained upright, supported by the emergency flotation gear. After shutting down the engines and stopping the rotors, the crew and passengers evacuated the helicopter into one of the life rafts via the cabin door. Six of the occupants were rescued from the liferaft by a search and rescue helicopter, eight were transferred to a RNLI lifeboat.