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Old 30th Mar 2024, 00:09
  #17 (permalink)  
HeliComparator
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Aberdeen
Age: 67
Posts: 2,090
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Originally Posted by SASless
HC has a long well known antipathy to the 92 and placed all of his chips on the 225....as we who have attended this forum for a long time can recall.

The Cougar tragedy identified the problem with the 92 Oil Filter that led to the loss of oil....but also uncovered some pilot issues that resulted in an uncontrolled crash into the sea rather than a controlled ditching had the proper procedures been followed.

Granted such a ditching was something that wast fraught with its own serious risks.

The fix for the oil filter was easy, clearly defined, and well publicized.

I defy anyone to say the same about the 225 loss of the rotor head being such a straight forward exercise or handled in such a transparent manner.

The issue is not why the 225 is no longer in use on the North Sea but rather shall it be allowed to return as a result of the strong feelings many of the future passengers might hold.

Look back to the Chinook crash that resulted in that type aircraft being returned to the United States where they still labor on in the forestry, construction, and utility market.

Public opinion plays a very large role in the types of aircraft that will be found acceptable no matter the desires of the operator, oil company, or the civil authorities.

Look to Boeing's problems with the 737 Series Airliner of late......passengers get the Hebbie Jeebies and quit flying on a particular airplane and airlines stop buying them....same in the oil patch.
Sorry to disappoint but I agree with all that! But public opinion is not a good guide to which helicopter is safer than another in the grand scheme of things. There have been a number of very close calls in the S92 due to the interaction between the pilots and the very poorly designed (by modern standards) AFCS. There has been a recent S92 fatality which, although speculation, was probably caused by a combination of the unfriendly AFCS and in a particular, a crazy design aspect of the float switches.

So I would be fairly confident that the EC225 won’t be coming back to the N Sea any time soon, but it won’t be down to a rational decision.
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