Shoes pinch a bit when they are on the other foot don't they?
S92 had a head start on catastrophe, now it is 225's turn to catch up a bit, but now that the fleet has effectively been grounded this problem will be fixed and without loss of life.
If the Cougar Crew had complied with the Checklist (as the Co-Pilot reminded the Captain at least twice)....what would the score have been?
The accident analysis clearly demonstrated a prompt controlled ditching would have prevented the Gearbox failure that caused the uncontrolled crash into the water that proved fatal.
In the North Sea events the crews DID follow the Checklist.....despite the temptation in one case of having land quit near and all turned out well. That they did because of a false report of a failure of the Emergency Lube system does not change the fact they ditched rather than continue to fly a machine with a suspected gearbox failure.
We cannot say that about the one that shed its rotor head can we....and do we really know what caused that one? We know what failed....but do we know with definity what caused that to happen?
Why is it we see the EC aircraft being limited to a HUMS download every three hours.....are the MGB's that susceptible to failures that such monitoring is necessary?
You are quite correct I have flown neither the 225 or the 92 and that allows me to be absolutely impartial in my evaluation of the two. I never worked for Sikorsky or EC...I have not been a Company Type Captain, have not been involved in making recommendations to Management about which aircraft to buy, and have had no involvement in formulating SOP's, writing Checklists, or anything like that for an Operator for either of the two aircraft.
Are you that free of bias?
Face it....EC has a problem every bit as serious as Sikorsky did. Like it or not....currently your favorite helicopter is grounded as being unsafe to fly in the Commercial Market.
I would suggest implying Bristow is bullet proof on this is just Whistling as you walk past the Graveyard.
The fact Bristow has not had one of these events does warrant examining to see what is being done different by your Engineering staff that might not be happening elsewhere....as there might just be something there worth duplicating by other Operators.
Yet....the absence of an event does not mean it cannot happen to Bristow.