Another case of failing to remember the lessons of the past? Maybe someone should remind the wallies who make these decisions of the accident report into
G-BBHN and the recommendations in that report following the October 1977 ditching. Those around the North Sea will be quite familiar with the red stripes under the hull plus the noticeable colour schemes that have followed; these recommendations should be nailed to the foreheads of the marketing wonks who have lost touch with the reason they make their income:
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the upturned hull which was difficult to locate and keep in view because its light coloured paint scheme merged with the breaking seas
Page 19: Alert action vii
Helicopter high visibility paint schemes
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Surface units arrived in the reported area about 63 minutes after the accident but were unable to find the drifting inverted hull
Page 24: Conclusions, Findings xiii
The upturned hull was difficult to find and keep in view because its light colouring blended with the breaking seas
Page 26: Safety Recommendations 4.10
High visibility paint schemes should be applied to helicopters to facilitate location after ditching particularly if the aircraft is floating inverted
Do
you think the snazzy new scheme really meets the recommendation from the report?