Airbus Helicopters has recently completed a first round of firing tests using with a variant of the Super Puma helicopters grounded following the latest fatal crash involving the troubled copter.
Helicopter chiefs in Aberdeen plan to end their use of the H225s on North Sea flights - unless customers call for the model to be used to fly their workers to installations.
Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority has decided to suspend all use of the Super Puma H225, after the Accident Investigation Board Norway (AIBN) is calling on the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to take “immediate action” to ensure the aircraft was safe.
A huge and emotional outpouring of distressed and angry emails have been received by the leading offshore workers’ trade union RMT since a fatal helicopter crash in Norway killed 13 people last month.
The UK and Norwegian Civil Aviation Authorities have extended the flying ban to other Airbus helicopters following last month's North Sea helicopter crash which claimed the lives 13 people.
More than 23,000 people have so far signed a petition calling for the Civil Aviation Authority to permanently remove the Airbus EC225 Super Puma from service.
Training records for the co-pilot of the fatal Sumburgh crash suggested he had experienced some difficulties during a course with "managing the workload and becoming overloaded" at times.
Safety remains an "absolute priority" one year on from the publication of a report addressing issues on offshore helicopter flights. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)'s CAT-1145 report was released on February 20, 2014 and listed 61 actions and recommendations aimed at addressing accident prevention for workers travelling offshore by helicopter. It comes one month after the CAA said there is still work to be done to improve flight safety.
Safety checks have been ordered on Super Puma helicopters after it was warned cabin doors could jam shut in an emergency. The airworthiness directive, issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), was given for the Airbus AS332 and EC225 aircraft. Operators will now have to carry out an inspection within three months for aircraft more than a year old and within the next 15 months for more recent models.