Originally Posted by
KiwiNedNZ
how the heck does this company remain in business.
Availability and cost. There are actually a couple other smaller operators with a worse record that still fly. However, the ironic thing is there was a time a few years ago RLC had a better accident/incident rate than the 3 biggest ops in the GOM at the time.
And how do people keep getting in the back of their helicopters?
Some customers have a long history with RLC and only want to use them. During one particular past timeframe a large customer of theirs went through reorganization and some divisions switched air providers to see how the other side lived. However, at the field level it didn't work and in the end most of those divisions moved back to RLC that could.
The latest in the OP accident is during the takeoff sequence the aircraft hit the rig, fell back onto the deck, broke apart, then went off the edge. At least this narrative better explains the floating wreckage they found and the reason for the short SAR attempt.