A helicopter that crashed in Norway killing 13 people including one Scot had to return to base twice in the days before the tragedy after a warning light was triggered.
Helicopter operator CHC said the Super Puma had to turn back to Flesland Airport in Bergen last Tuesday when the pilot spotted the indication light.
The news came as tributes were paid to Iain Stuart, 41, from Laurencekirk in Aberdeenshire, who was named as among the dead.
READ MORE: Family 'herartbroken' by death of Scot in Norway helicopter crash
After a part was replaced a test flight the following day was also aborted and another component changed when the light reappeared.
The company said the aircraft completed six commercial flights with no indications of problems on Thursday, the day before the fatal accident.
The helicopter was carrying two crew and 11 passengers from the North Sea Gullfaks B oil field, around 74 miles (120 kilometres) off the Norwegian coast when it crashed en route to Flesland.
Among them was Mr Stuart, who was reported to have worked for oilfield services company Halliburton and described as "always a gent" and "a top bloke" in tributes on social media.
Stephen Rennie, manager at Brechin Golf Club where Mr Stuart was a member, said in an interview with the Sunday Mail: "The whole club is shocked and saddened to hear the devastating news about Iain.
"He was a very popular member of the club and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time."
Television footage has shown what appears to be a helicopter rotor blade spiralling down minutes before the helicopter crashed.
READ MORE: Family 'herartbroken' by death of Scot in Norway helicopter crash
A statement from CHC said: "It is correct that the helicopter returned to base on Tuesday April 26.
"The pilot had a warning light and returned to Flesland according to procedure.
"At Flesland the helicopter was inspected, according to procedure, and a part was replaced.
"Wednesday, the helicopter was taken on a test flight, where the warning light reappeared, the helicopter returned to base, changed another component, the next test drive was completed without any warning light.
"Thursday, the aircraft completed six commercial flights, all without any indication of problems. None of the changed parts were physically connected to rotor or gearbox."
The statement added: "These Returns to Base (RTBs) are essential for flight safety and part of operating in a highly regulated industry.
"Sometimes an RTB can be for technical issues, other times it is much more mundane.
"At all times, CHC has met or exceeded the requirements of our regulatory authorities and our customers, and continues to offer a compliant service.
"Speculation about the cause of the accident is unhelpful and we must also be careful to respect the feelings of the families who perished in the tragic events of Bergen."
Field operators Statoil said the pilots of the helicopter - a Norwegian and an Italian - were CHC Helicopter staff.
The 10 other Norwegian passengers were employed by companies including Schlumberger, Aker Solutions, and Statoil. Their names have not yet been released.
All UK commercial passenger flights using the Airbus EC225LP - or Super Puma - model have been grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) following the accident.
More than 6,500 people have now signed an online petition calling on the CAA to permanently remove the EC225 from service.
The signatories include Audrey Wood, who lost her son Stuart when a helicopter carrying workers from a BP oil platform crashed off Peterhead in Aberdeenshire in April 2009.
A team from the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is assisting with an investigation into the cause of the crash.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel