H225 was always my favourite ride offshore. Smooth ride, long MGB run-dry time, good (and proven!) flotation performance. huge escape windows, good view of the instruments from the right aisle seat in the second row! (Nerd alert!)
I have been involved with helicopters for SAR, defence, underslug utility tasks, as well as offshore crew change, and have followed and documented helicopter accidents for a couple of decades. So here's what I think.
1. Helicopters are more dangerous than an A320 from GLA to TFS and always will be.
2. Hundreds of people died in CAT accidents in S-61, 332, and other of those eras.
3. The H225 and S-92, both commencing service in 2004 ushered in a new era of large rotorcraft safety. That remains the case.
4. The S-92 was on the back foot from the start due to MGB run-dry time cheating and flotation limitations and ...
5. ... Cougar 91 revealed other weaknesses.
6. Higher fatality count for the H225 is because it is a successful military helicopter and gets shot at.
7. Looking at fatal accidents only in CAT ops, they are near equal but one number pushes the H225 ahead:
8. 12 years of intensive CAT operations before the first H225 fatal accident.
9. A huge proportion of NS crew change flights carry between 9 and 16 PAX: enter the Super-Mediums.
10. We don't know what we don't know yet. Will 2014 super-medium rotorcraft ultimately be safer then 2004 large rotorcraft?