Aberdeen Press and Journal.
Warning of fault grounds copters
A North sea flight operator has grounded two helicopters after cracks were found in the main rotor shaft of a model in the United States.
The move follows a warning from the Federal Aviation Authority in the US that cracks had been found in a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter there.
Scotia Helicopters, which operates nine Sikorsky S-76s, grounded two of its Aberdeen-based aircraft after receiving the notification of potential metal fatigue from the manufacturers.
The problem is believed to have been caused by a faulty batch of parts.
Last night, a Scotia spokesman said: "This was purely a precautionary measure – the main rotor shaft is regularly replaced but the two helicopters had parts from the same batch as the faulty one in America.
"There has been no disruption to our service as replacement helicopters have been brought in from Norway and we expect to have both the grounded ones back in operation by next weekend." There are about 20 Sikorsky S-76 helicopters operating in Britain, including one attached to the Queen's Flight.
They are primarily used for transferring oil workers offshore and for executive charter in other parts of the country.
Investigations are ongoing into the incident but it is thought that it will be limited to seven aircraft in total, five of which operate in Europe.
The company is advising owners to scan the shaft for small cracks and to repeat the safety check after every 80 flights or 20 hours of flight time.
Bristow Helicopters, which operates one Sikorsky S-76 out of Aberdeen, have not been affected.
A company spokesman said: "None of Bristow's helicopters have been affected by this problem. We operate a number of S-76s in the southern North Sea but all are operating normally.
"The faulty batch of parts was very small and has only affected a very limited number of aircraft worldwide," the spokesman stated.