Originally Posted by
SASless
HC,
A question that I keep asking.....why are these event happening on the UK side of the North Sea and not on the other side? Is it just my memory fails me or are we really not seeing any on the other side? I am not suggesting anything....so don't get your feathers ruffled.....honest question here.
If we are not having crashes and ditching on the east side....then what are the factors that might be in play that keeps them from having the same problem?
I think I know something about the differences between the Norwegian and British side of the North Sea.
As I know it, in the British side the helicopter companies follow manufacturer and EU rules regarding maintenance and training. On the Norwegian sides all companies follow stricter rules laid out in three safety reports from Sintef in Trondheim. Sadly I don't have any links to those reports, but among other things they mandates more frequent maintenance and checkups compared to manufacturer and EU schedules.
One other difference is that on the Norwegian side the power out take from the engines is limited to 80 percent under normal operations in order to reduce the load on key transmission components.
The last accident with fatalities on the Norwegian side ocured in -97 when a AS332 L1 went down en route to the "Norne" ship. The reason for this accident was that the splined sleeve on the right input shaft for the MGB had developed several fatigue cracks. This lead to a lock washer coming loose, the bendix shaft got affected, imbalance developed. The shaft then failed, and the RPM regulation of the right turbine also failed or was to slow with the result that the rpm increased uncontrollably until the turbine disc disintegrated at 175 percent rpm. Fragments of the disc severed several control links for the main rotor as well as the tail rotor and also destroyed the left engine.
Lastly I can say that yearly hours flown is about ten or twenty percent greater on the Norwegian side compared to the British side.