Airwave 45
Well done for bringing us those figures but take care that you are comparing like with like. Importantly, the regulators define >45 deg lat as Hostile Environment for a reason. GoM, frankly, is largely short hops across toy-town in the sunshine compared to NS (and yes, I have been there, though it was a while ago, like your figures).
There is a complex balance of factors in play with figures like these. HC makes several good points. Water temperature is a very serious issue. The size of aircraft is a more complex one than we usually accept: I believe that the complexity of escaping from a cabin with 19 confused people in it is somewhat glossed over compared to a handful in a Dauphin.
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What Happens If I
Pr
Resources. Is the easy answer to that.
Noggy oil companies are willing to pay for a better level of cover on all fronts.
Including back up aircraft, instead of trimming to a minimum level.
Agreed. Using 2011 conservative World Bank figures the Norwegians have a Gross National Income per capita 135% higher than the UK. It is not rocket science to work out that if you have over twice as much money then you can make things safer.
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WINDOWS
The window sizes on S-92 and SP up to L2 are a disgrace. Well done to AH/EC for the window sizes on the EC225. Looking to the future, AW189 and EC175 look like they will provide us with excellent escape windows.
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ONLINE RESOURCES
As has been stated above, better use could be made of ICT to transmit safety information.
The online presence of the three main Aberdeen operators is pretty dreadful. Even scheduling and luggage info is done poorly. This is 2013 guys. (Minimum fancy rubbish please. Up-front options for plain, easy-to-load website info that can be seen on dialup, a ropey drilling rig sat link or a phone.)
Schedule, luggage restriction, safety videos (including rebreather!), type safety cards and yes, even accident stats. This takes effort to get right and keep updated but it will be worth it. And every rig helo guy should get an update message when stuff changes.