HOPES of a return to the North Sea for the helicopter once dubbed the workhorse of the oil and gas industry have taken a battering after a new survey revealed two in three passengers were unlikely to fly the them again.
The Super Puma H225 aircraft were in July cleared to fly by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) after a crash last year, but only if certain extra safeguards were put in place. The Unite union had raised concern about their possible return.
But the the H225 and its AS332 L2 helicopter variant has never taken to the air as in the North Sea and Norway as offshore operations have found an alternative in the Sikorsky S92.
The helicopters were grounded after a crash involving the helicopter off the coast of Norway killed 13 people, including Iain Stuart from Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire, in April 2016.
The search and rescue vessel patrols off the island of Turoey, near Bergen, Norway, as emergency workers on the shoreline attend the scene after a helicopter crashed
Super Puma manufacturer Airbus conducted the survey of over 5000 people in a bid to show that it is listening to passengers - but it showed that 62 per cent were "uncomfortable and unlikely to ever fly the H225 again.
Some 44 per cent said they were unaware of the work Airbus has undertaken since the Norway crash to deal with safety critical issues and customer concerns - indicating that the company had not sufficient explained the safety steps it has taken since the tragedy.
Airbus had introduced a number of new safety improvements to the H225, including the use of a higher reliability second stage planet gear, gearbox components being replace more regularly, increased monitoring and inspections and the precautionary withdrawal from service of any gearbox involved in an “unusual” event such as a road traffic accident.
Preliminary investigations revealed the aircraft’s rotor broke off due to a “fatigue fracture” in one of it gears, but a root cause has yet to be found.
Airbus said: "We conducted an online helicopter users’ survey to hear directly from users, mainly pilots and passengers, regarding their thoughts on helicopter features in general, and the H225 in particular.
"This valuable feedback is key to helping us address the concerns, priorities and requirements of those who use our helicopters on a regular basis."
It is understood the company is aware they have a huge task to regain trust in the oil and gas industry and that they have a big challenge to get anywhere near the situation in the early 80s and 90s where 90 per cent of the offshore helicopters were Super Pumas.
One industry expert said: "While the aircraft has been out of service helicopter operators and oil and gas companies have found alternatives and they are covered at this point in time. This has coincided with a downturn in the industry and so a lot of fleets have their helicopters in storage anyway.
"The number one priority for Airbus is to go through a long and careful process bringing people up to speed about what the situation is and what can be done about it. And with time as they see the measures are effective, there may be an opportunity for the helicopter to come back into service. But Airbus will be under no illusions on the matter."
In July, the CAA accepted the helicopters would not begin flying immediately and that a plan of checks, modifications and inspections would be undertaken before any flights take place.
These included a change in the design by removal of the components that were susceptible to premature deterioration, a design change to introduce an improved maintenance inspection method to detect any deterioration at an early stage and more frequent inspections. They also required a reduction in the thresholds for rejecting components based upon early signs of any deterioration.
The CAA's decision to ground all commercial Super Puma flights by UK operators following the Norway crash came against a background of five incidents involving Super Pumas operating in the UK oil and gas industry since 2009.
Norwegian Super Puma recovered from crash site
In May 2012 workers were rescued when an EC225 - an early version of the H225 - ditched off Aberdeen and five months later everyone on board the same model was safely returned to shore after it was forced to ditch off the coast of Shetland.
Investigators identified a problem with the gearbox in both cases.
Passengers and crew survived a previous incident when an EC225LP went down off the coast of Aberdeen in February 2009.
Two fatal crashes involving the AS332L2 - another variant of the H225 - saw 16 lives lost when the aircraft carrying workers from a BP oil platform crashed off Peterhead in Aberdeenshire in April 2009, and four oil workers died when the same model went down off Shetland in August 2013.
Audrey Wood, who lost her son Stuart in the 2009 crash, supported an online petition calling on the CAA to permanently remove the EC225 from service which was supported by more than 27,000.
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