PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AS332L2 Ditching off Shetland: 23rd August 2013
Old 29th Aug 2013, 15:41
  #758 (permalink)  
Mechta
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Its very good news that the cockpit voice and flight data recorder has been recovered, and the likelihood is the true cause(s) of the ditching can now be determined from hard facts. Not withstanding that, it would be sad if the opportunity was lost to use this accident and the attention currently focused upon it to improve the already high standards throughout the offshore helicopter industry.

As Diginagain said:

I believe it was Mechta who suggested the use of a confidential reporting system for raising concerns. Of course, air- and ground crew as well as maintainers can do-so using CHIRP. The oil industry have been offered a similar confidential occurrence reporting system but this offer has been rebuffed. It seems that while OGUK/Step Change In Safety would like greater workforce engagement, there are limits as to how much engagement is warranted, it appears.
The difference between CHIRP and my proposal, is that CHIRP is started by an individual being sufficiently concerned that they initiate the process of a report. What I proposed was a confidential survey or interviews of all those working (and could include retired from) the industry to pick up incidents which had previously gone unreported. There must be plenty of close-call incidents which, although alarming at the time, did not get reported due to distractions of pressing day to day tasks. They then become distant memories until someone gets badly bitten by much the same thing.

My other proposal, of, as Grenville Fortescue described it,

A North Sea Helicopter Operations Task Force comprised of retired pilots and engineers, supported in their mission by offshore workers
to observe and compare, over a period of weeks or months, the differences between the operators' styles of operations, planning, maintenance etc. with the sole objective to bring industry standards up to the level of the best, would be a valid way to reassure the users of North Sea helicopters that the four lost did not die in vain.

As a footnote, if you were a 'bear' wouldn't you at least like your pilot to be aware of the cause of the recent accident, whether it was mechanical or not, before you climbed into EC332L2?

Last edited by Mechta; 29th Aug 2013 at 15:50. Reason: footnote added
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