Union: offshore workers to target crash chopper firm, 25 years since Piper Alpha

One of its helicopters came down off the southern tip of Shetland on Friday night, prompting renewed industry concern about safety.

It was the fifth incident involving Super Pumas in the North Sea since 2009.

Union general secretary Bob Crow, who will attend the protest joined by Norwegian colleagues, said: "No one should underestimate the level of grief and anger felt amongst the offshore workforce in light of Friday night's latest disaster.

"That anger can be seen across the social media sites. Twenty-five years after Piper Alpha, the industry is today confronted by another series of basic demands and assurances on worker safety.

"The time has come for the offshore industry to start treating their workforce with respect and dignity, and that means no more hollow words on safety and a lifting of the ban on union access to the workforce.

"A ban where the only objective is weakening collective strength, including in the sphere of workplace safety."

The protest is planned for 7.30am at Aberdeen airport, the RMT said.

The plan emerged as the body of the fourth victim of the crash was brought to the mainland.

A search for the aircraft's black box data recorder, which was located in the helicopter's tail section, is being carried out by salvage experts at the site of the crash using specialist sonar equipment.

There were 16 passengers and two crew on the Super Puma AS332 L2 travelling from the Borgsten Dolphin support vessel when it crashed into the sea, killing three men and one woman.

The victims were named as Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham; George Allison, 57, from Winchester, Hampshire; Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin, Moray; and 59-year-old Gary McCrossan, from Inverness.

Three of the bodies from the crash arrived in Aberdeen by ferry on Monday morning and the fourth reached the city, also by ferry, by 8am today.

Once the black box recorder is traced, it will be transported to the headquarters of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) at Farnborough, Hampshire, for examination.

It is hoped information on the flight recorder will help establish what caused the crash.

The wreckage of the helicopter is due to be transported to a mainland port on the Bibby Polaris salvage vessel.

CHC have temporarily held all flights of the three types of Super Puma helicopter that they operate - the L, L2 and EC225.

Fellow operators Bond Offshore Helicopters and Bristow also enforced a temporary suspension of all Super Puma flights except emergency rescue missions.

It follows a recommendation by the offshore industry's Helicopter Safety Steering Group (HSSG) which urged the precautionary measure until there is ''sufficient factual information'' to resume flights.

A spokeswoman for Bristow Helicopters said: ''Bristow continues to be assured of the safe operation of our global fleet and is in consultation and close co-ordination with our clients around the world regarding our continued support of their critical operations with helicopters other than the Eurocopter AS332 L2.

''Core to our target zero culture is our commitment to safety, which will remain our number one core value.''

Oil giant Total has chartered boats to transport workers to offshore platforms following the crash.

Four vessels are being co-ordinated to operate between three oil producing platforms and other offshore drilling facilities in the North Sea while Super Puma helicopter flights are suspended.

A spokesman for Total said: ''We have chartered four vessels. The intention is to bring them into operation as soon as we can sort the logistics.''

Around 80 representatives of oil and gas operators and major contractors attended a ''sombre'' meeting in Aberdeen yesterday to discuss contingency plans following the suspension.

Oil & Gas UK chief executive Malcolm Webb said the summit had endorsed the HSSG's recommendation.

There have been five North Sea incidents involving Super Pumas since 2009. In April that year an AS332 L2, operated by Bond, went down north-east of Peterhead on its return from a BP platform, killing all 14 passengers and two crew on board.

The other three ditchings involved the EC225 model which saw flights temporarily suspended. CHC returned the model to commercial service only earlier this month.

An investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that two of the incidents were the result of gearbox failure and new advice on checks for the EC225 were issued as a result.

A fatal accident inquiry is expected to be held into the 2009 fatal AS332 L2 crash in Aberdeen next year.

The temporary suspension of Super Puma flights is a "proportionate response" to last week's fatal incident in the North Sea, according to a professional body for occupational safety.

But an outright ban of the helicopter model would be "too simplistic" a solution at this stage, warned the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

Allison Laws, chair of IOSH's offshore group, said: "The urgency and extent of necessary improvements after any accident is justified by what happens, but all the remedial actions taken should be linked to why the event happened.

"Until we begin to understand the causes, the immediate cessation of all commercial Super Puma flights is a proportionate response. We commend HSSG for their rapid recommendation of this."

A Facebook campaign has called for the destruction of Super Pumas in the wake of the tragedy.

But Ms Laws added: "In both the short- and possibly long-term, alternative transport methods may be deployed for some workers - but none are risk-free, which is why simply banning one model of helicopter that carries up to 50% of current passengers is too simplistic a response.

"We are also concerned that, due to the very natural current focus by all parties on helicopter risks, that attention of the industry and workforce remains on safety while offshore, including other safety-critical offshore activities, such as the prevention of hydrocarbon releases and the management of aging structures.

"A proportionate and balanced response to all the risks faced by offshore workers, as summarised in the safety case for each UK offshore installation, continues to be very important."

The British Airlines Pilots Association (Balpa) said it has confidence in the Super Puma.

In a statement, the association said that it would be a mistake to draw early conclusions about the cause of the crash.

"In the meantime Balpa wishes to confirm that the confidence of its members in the Super Puma family of aircraft remains unchanged," the group stated.

"Indeed the aircraft continues to operate commercial air transport flights throughout the rest of the world including the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

"We should not rush to judge an aircraft which has three very different variants and has successfully transported millions of passengers worldwide in safety over 30 years of operation.

"However, once the recommendations of the AAIB accident report into last Friday's accident have been published, Balpa believes there is a need to take a step back and, as well as reviewing each of the five individual accident investigations, to consider as a whole what can be done to improve the safety of both the offshore workforce (our passengers) and Balpa members who share the same risks, but on a daily basis.

"Such an investigation might usefully take a comparative view on the approaches of our Norwegian colleagues who do things in the same geographic operating area yet with an apparently better safety record."

Balpa extended its sympathies to the families of those who died and to survivors.