Marooned!!!

[skydriller]

Hi guys!

This is on behalf of all of us stranded on rigs & platforms due to the big bad "F" word.

We all know how bad the weather has been over the last week or so and the number of cancelled flights. We were wondering however if you had heard any plans by the Consortium to use Norway to get guys off of rigs, I know there was a chopper diverted to Bergen friday (It landed here for fuel we were told!). Just interested in the logistics of it all. Also hearing rumours that if crews have been on standby trapped in Shetland that hours may be a problem when the weather finally clears, is this true?

As you can imagine there isnt alot else being talked about out here right now except the weather and when or if the next chopper is coming!! So any replies or info from any of you flying out of Aberdeen/Shetland with Bristows etc. is appreciated.

On a personal note, Id be interested in what sort of minimums you can fly in out here.

Regards, SD :(

[simfly]

skydriller,

I can assure you, we are trying everything that is possible. I am one of the team who try to plan the consortium flying schedule in these situations, but unfortunately there is no way we can get more done. We have chartered fixed wing aircraft from various parts of europe over the last 2 weekends, but as you are well aware, the weather has either been bad out there, or in Shetland. Even when direct flights from Aberdeen go out, if the forecast for Shetland is poor, then the payloads drop dramatically so it doesn't always pay off as there is no refuel stop. Bergen has been mentioned, but I don't think it would make much difference. It is a bit like using Sumburgh, we are just not geared up for it, it would slow the operation down. A helicopter did go to Bergen on Friday, a Shell Scatsta one after it overshot the platform. The forecast for Shetland was poor so it had to head to Norway and stay overnight. BP tried the Bergen thing. They chartered a plane, flew to Bergen, then flew the guys back to Aberdeen as the field was in fog, nothing acheived! Helicopter crews are struggling for hours almost constantly at the moment. This is mainly due to the shortage of them, the phrase "over worked, under paid" may sum it up. Hope this is all correct, I not a pilot, so I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong about some of that. If it is any consolation, the BWA / BHL staff in Aberdeen Airport have been working for 3 weeks without a day off, and all they get is the **** from a lot of the offshore guys demanding to know when they will be fed, cancelled or flying, if only they / we could do something to the weather.

Hope we get you all off soon, then I may get a day off too! :mad:

[skydriller]

Thanks for the reply Simfly,

I posted the above question because alot of the guys on this platform know I have a PPL & fly for fun, and are asking me questions about the problems associated with flying in the bad weather. Plus Im interested too, and know that alot of you on pprune can help me answer their questions.

Regards, SD.

PS

I cant speak for those waiting to go offshore, but of those here already, we understand its no-ones fault.

[capt tracy]

Skydriller,
We're trying to get you off, believe me. Our limits go down to 3/4 mile and 50' above the helideck height. No false weather reports please, as we just end up in Norway on Kn500/day plus expenses.
Believe it or not; if we wait on an offshore platform overnight we're supposed to hand in £1.50 breakfast allowance that would normally be paid in the Shetland Islands. It's just got silly when there's a proper job to be done.
Hey, we'll try and get you off as soon as possible. We do fly down to the limits. Let's ignore the penny pinching for now and maybe our helicopter company will go out for proper rates in the future to retain their pilots.
Hope you get back tomorrow.
Cheers

[skydriller]

Just wanna say that I got ashore from the N.Cormorant yesterday evening and thanks to all those who made it happen, especially the crew of G-BWWI, smooth ride fellas! :cool:

Cheers, SD

[ 11 July 2001: Message edited by: skydriller ]

[thechopper]

You guys just wait when the BP Wonderchopper appears on the scene, which as a BP spokesperson put it to the press will not be affected by adverse weather.
Somebody obviously still believes in pigs.must be experts.
Have a nice and fogfree day, whereever you are. :mad:

[Odi]

Just to add our side of the coin as a East Shetland Basin Controller (to the pilots as well as the oilies) - we do all we can to help the heli crews fly safely out to the rigs but sometimes things are beyond our control. Now the weather has become flyable we are faced with the (fairly straight-forward)problem of operating without a radar (Gulfaks radar found to have cracks in the base). We fight our way around that obstacle only to find there are problems on the COA with the Sat Coms equipment resulting (we are led to believe) from an over-enthusiastic flare stack. This has left us with no standby radios and very intermittent mains radio capability. All we are left with is the radio equivalent of two coke cans and a bit of string operating on a single frequency. Unfortunately, we don't always know that the mains have failed, so, pilots, if the frequency goes quiet for any length of time and you can't raise us, try the alternate freq. If you still can't raise us try contacting Sumburgh, who we sit next to, and we may be able to relay messages to you.

[mkeane]

Thechopper: Your reference to the BPWonderchopper is probably referring to the proposal to replace some offshore rescue facilities with land and offshore based helicopters. A few of my friends who are offshore based have pointed out that if we cam't do the routine crew changes in poor visibility then how can we rescue workers in the same conditions? The answer is that if the oil companies go for the helicopter option the aircraft will be specially equipped to do the job with such facilities as auto-hover and auto-transition, along with infra-red vision aides - equipement that will never be available on normal crew-change aircraft due to thier cost. Remember also that when Search and Resue aircraft are opertating the are sometimes required operate in quite risky conditions which in "a life for a life" situation is acceptable but for routine crew-change flights will NEVER be acceptable. Hope this clears things up a bit!!