Mi 17-2 down

[The Auditor]

Semi confirmed reports of a M****O Mil 172 crashing into the sea off Bombay.

Heavy loss of life stated......as high as 28 people.

[Heliport]

Reuters One Dead, 25 Missing in Indian Helicopter Crash

Mon August 11, 2003 05:52 AM ET

BOMBAY (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and 25 were missing after a helicopter crashed off India's western coast Monday as it was ferrying employees of the state-run oil company from an oil rig.
A spokeswoman for India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which was using the helicopter, said three people had been rescued from the sea and taken to hospital. Indian navy, coast guard and ONGC personnel were searching for survivors.

"It was a very short flight of about 22 miles from the oil rig to the helicopter base on shore for a crew change," Narayani Mahil, ONGC spokeswoman in Bombay, told Reuters. The helicopter took off from a platform in the Neelam oil field, about 100 kilometers from the Bombay coast, at 12:15 p.m. (2:45 a.m.), ditching into the sea within three minutes, she said.

The reason for the crash was not known, Mahil said.

The 29 people on board included 22 ONGC employees, three contract workers and four crew members.

ONGC, India's largest exploration company, produces two-thirds of its oil at its Bombay High offshore fields. The aircraft, an MI-172 Russian helicopter, belonged to the privately owned MESCO Airlines and was chartered by ONGC, another spokesman for the company said.

[newswatcher]

From "The Times of India"
At least 25 people are missing after a helicopter carrying 29 ONGC staffers crashed into the Arabian sea three minutes after takeoff from the jackup rig Sagar Kiran, 35 kms from here, on Monday.

The MI-72 chopper owned by private firm Mesco was ferrying ONGC staff from drilling rig Sagar Kiran when it crashed at 12.18 pm, airport officials said.

Three people survived the crash, officials said. According to officials at Juhu helibase, one body has been recovered so far which is being flown to Mumbai.

The helicopter plunged into the sea less than 500 metres after it had taken off from Sagar Kiran for Sagar Jyoti in western offshore Neelam asset.

Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik is rushing to the city even as senior ONGC team have rushed to the site of the mishap. Three vessels from the ONGC along with two helicopters and Indian Navy personnel have been deployed for search and rescue operations, airport and ONGC officials said here.

There were four crew members on board the chopper, which was under the command of Cap Jaiswal, the sources said.

[pzu]

See

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/11/india.helicopter/index.html


The price of oil

Condolences to all involved

[Heliport]

Press Trust of India
Mumbai, August 12

The helicopter, which crashed into the Arabian Sea while ferrying 25 ONGC employees, has been located 180 miles off Sagar Kiran lying upside down, even as the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced an inquiry into the cause of the crash.

The night-long search operations by the vessels of ONGC, Navy and Coast Guard led to the location of Mi-72 helicopter lying upside down in the water, an ONGC spokesperson said in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Efforts are on to bring up the chopper which crashed on Monday three minutes after take-off with 29 persons aboard, including four crew members of Mesco aviation.

The spokesperson said only three bodies have so far been recovered, while 24 others are fear trapped in the chopper. Two survived the crash.

About the strike threat by the Association of technicians and officers (ASTO) of ONGC, the spokesperson said a committee of directors would be meeting them on Tuesday to discuss the demands, including higher compensation of Rs 25 lakh to those who perished in the incident.

Meanwhile, the DGCA has announced an inquiry into the cause of the crash and appointed Deputy Director V K Chandana as inspector of accident.

Efforts are on to recover the cockpit, voice recorder and the flight data recorder which could provide vital clues about the crash, top DGCA officials said.

The Russian-made helicopter had logged about 3,000 flying hours since it was acquired by Mesco in 1995.

ONGC director offshore V K Sharma said that operations were normal at the Bombay High offshore field.

"We would be producing our normal output of 3,40,000 barrels per day of crude oil today," he said, while acknowledging that the employees had threatened to go on strike.

Sharma said Tuesday being a holiday for Raksdha Bandhan, the onshore offices of ONGC were anyway closed but the operations have not yet been affected.

[Heliport]

Reuters Oil workers to strike over helicopter crash

Rescuers have found the wreckage of a helicopter that crashed off India's west coast, killing up to 27 people, as angry colleagues at the country's biggest oil company vowed a nationwide strike over safety.
Three people are confirmed dead and 24 remain missing a day after the Russian-built MI-172 helicopter chartered by state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp plunged into the sea minutes after leaving a rig in the Neelam field near Bombay.

"Search operations are on but we still have not located any more bodies," ONGC spokeswoman Narayani Mahil told Reuters.
She said the helicopter was found at a depth of 55 metres, less than 200 metres from the rig. So far, only two of the 25 passengers and four crew on board have been found alive.

Workers at ONGC, India's largest oil exploration company, have declared an indefinite strike over the crash, accusing the company of ignoring long-standing safety concerns.
"We served notice for the strike last night to the ONGC management and the [petroleum] minister," LK Mirchandani, president of the Association of Scientific and Technical Officers at ONGC, said yesterday. "We will go ahead with the strike from tomorrow."
Yesterday was a religious holiday for ONGC workers.
The strike threat is in defiance of a Supreme Court ruling last week that government workers had no right to strike.
Several unions across the country have also threatened a separate strike from today over the court ruling.

ONGC produces almost 80 per cent of India's crude - almost two thirds of it at its Bombay High offshore fields.

[Islander Jock]

The fact that three people survived the impact and escaped begs a question. Is a HUET course mandatory for all offshore workers in this part of the world?

[Hilico]

Er, Jock, I think it says three bodies, with the rest still missing or trapped inside the machine.

[Islander Jock]

G'day Helico,

I read the part about survivors in Heliport's last post but took the numbers from the previous one. If that makes sense? :ouch:

So far, only two of the 25 passengers and four crew on board have been found alive.

Obviously some conflicting stories coming out which is to be expected from this part of the world.

[Heliport]

AP are reporting two survivors from the 29 on board.

Three bodies were recovered Monday, and 22 yesterday. The rear door of the helicopter had to be broken open to take out the trapped bodies inside.
Two people R.M. Murthy, ONGC officer, and Captain D.K. Mittal, co-pilot are still missing and search operations are continuing.
ONGC spokesman said "The toll in the crash is now 27 with only two survivors, Anil Mhatre and V.S. Mandloi."

"We were lucky we took off our seat belts even before we realized the chopper was going to crash," V.S. Manloi, one of the survivors, told reporters from his home on Wednesday. "We realized something was not normal and it was not just the weather."
Manloi said he was able to push open one of three doors. He said his fellow survivor, A.J. Mhatre, threw out a safety raft when the helicopter hit the sea.
"There were two more safety rafts in the chopper but we could not save even one more person. The sea was very rough," Manloi told reporters.

[old heliman]

Islander,

I don't know about "that part of the world" but within the UK HUET training is not manadated for by the Aviation Regulator but is required However, whilst not manadated, the Oil companies are expected to provide the Health and Safety Executive with an overall safety case for their total offshore exploitation oil/gas package and HUET training might well play a role in this.

[The Auditor]

Unfortunately India gives lip service to anything that the west holds as a standard.....

If there is a cheap nasty and double standard manner to achieve something.......then India has that down pat.

The only HUET knowledgable folk in the Indian Oilfriends, are the poor expaites that have been sent there as a result of a specialist skill.

[Bronx]

They've found the 'Black box' of crashed helo.
Sad the F/O and ONGC guy haven't been found.

[Mars]

Old Heliman:

The prize for HUET must surely go to CASA who have mandated it for aircrew engaged in offshore operations in their proposed helicopter regulations CASR Part 133.825(4).

(4) The operator of:

(a) a rotorcraft in Performance Class 3 that is engaged in
regular operations beyond 10 nm from land suitable for an
emergency landing; or

(b) a rotorcraft in Performance Class 2 that is engaged in
routine operations to or from a marine HLS or a helideck;
must ensure that crew members engaged in the operations
complete an underwater escape training course not later than 6
months after the commencement of operations.

[cpt]

Another concern on this type of helicopter is its emergency exits... russian certification standards are very different from those in the "west".
I know the Mi17-1 cargo has 2 jettisonable windows on its right side with the big front left sliding door (also jettisonable) ....the clamshell doors at the back are very often obstructed by freight an luggages, an are not designed to be jettisoned as well as the cargo sling hatch.
Besde this the 17-1 (in my CIS time) was certified for cargo flights and "service passengers" only.
I believe the 17-2 is an improved version of the 17-1 with a proper certification for public transport, and I hope if this is the case, that the emergency exits issue has been enhanced.

Most of the time, on international market, former CIS certified aircrafts can offer very attractive costs and very good performances, but "westeners" users also very often forget that insurances policies use to require a FAR certification standarts for aircrafts.

Despite this, the Mi 17 remains a wonderfull helicopter.

[Cyclic Hotline]

Govt appoints flight inspectors for choppers
BYAS ANAND

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2003 07:39:31 PM ]

NEW DELHI: Two days after the Mesco chopper crash that killed 27 people and a year after the demise of then Lok Sabha Speaker GMC Balayogi in a similar accident, the civil aviation ministry on Thursday decided to appoint a special flight inspector for helicopters.

Besides, a separate cell is also being created under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to monitor and formulate norms exclusively for chopper operations in India.

“We had been examining this area since Balayogi's demise in a chopper crash and have today appointed a flight inspector for all choppers in the country. The special cell will also monitor the safety standards of all non-scheduled aircraft and chopper operators in the country,” civil aviation minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

The DGCA and this special wing will now conduct the enquiry into Monday's chopper crash. Though DGCA officials said the operator -- Mesco -- possessed a valid non-scheduled operator license, the enquiry would be to ascertain the exact cause of the accident.

The MI-172 chopper owned by Mesco was ferrying 25 ONGC staff members from drilling rig Sagar Kiran, about 35km from the Mumbai coast, when it crashed. The chopper plunged into the sea less than 500 metres after it had taken off.

"The chopper had taken off from the Juhu helibase this morning for Sagar Kiran and no technical snag was reported. We will try to ascertain the cause of the accident," DGCA officials said.

The chopper, the official said, is 7-8 years old and has been undergoing the necessary periodical checks. "Even the non-scheduled operator license was being renewed every year."

The DGCA had, over two years back, proposed to introduce a legislation banning use of all single-engined helicopters for use in India, particularly by politicians. The reason: With a twin-engined chopper, failure of one engine still guarantees that it can still be made to land safely.

However, strong lobbying by the two dozen-odd charter operators kept DGCA from putting its thoughts into action.

"While DGCA keeps a detailed history of each helicopters from the time of import, the day-to-day maintenance leaves a lot of scope for improvement. Besides, there is no prescribed minimum age for a helicopter that is being imported or leased. So, if you have some amount of political push-and-pull, you can easily get an old choppers cleared for use," said an industry insider.

[Rotorbike]

Chatting offshore today and according to Indian newspapers passengers weren't wearing life jackets.

I certainly can't confirm this, but when added to no HUET training it definitely asks questions to the standard of operation in this part of the world.

[Cyclic Hotline]

Interesting story here (http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=29793)

Seems to be much activity in this arena here today! Maybe a case of closing the stable door?

Try Googling Mesco Airlines for some other interesting reading!

[Gunship]

cpt says :

Another concern on this type of helicopter is its emergency exits... russian certification standards are very different from those in the "west".
I know the Mi17-1 cargo has 2 jettisonable windows on its right side with the big front left sliding door (also jettisonable) ....the clamshell doors at the back are very often obstructed by freight an luggages, an are not designed to be jettisoned as well as the cargo sling hatch.
Besde this the 17-1 (in my CIS time) was certified for cargo flights and "service passengers" only.
I believe the 17-2 is an improved version of the 17-1 with a proper certification for public transport, and I hope if this is the case, that the emergency exits issue has been enhanced.

Most of the time, on international market, former CIS certified aircrafts can offer very attractive costs and very good performances, but "westeners" users also very often forget that insurances policies use to require a FAR certification standarts for aircrafts.

Despite this, the Mi 17 remains a wonderfull helicopter.

cpt .. your concern is everybody else's as well.
I do not know if you guys remember the Mi-8 / 17 that crashed just off the coast of Freetown in Oct 01 ?? Correction ?

VERY experienced test pilot and rumour has it flew into the sea just after dawn. Not my point - my point is :

A day or three later - all 15 ?? Mi-8 and 17's where inspected for emergency door release. Not ONE made the test. This info I got from a very respected person and was relayed confidentially.

The problem is / was / no still is ...

The UN took these russian crews with their (magnificent) machines but they servicing / back up lacks - that is a FACT !

I do not want to spread rumours but I have serious doubts that the Russian / Eastern block can still maintain these machines.

We have been waiting over two years for critical parts ... a guy doing it that works per hour .. will he wait ????

My bit ..:rolleyes:

[Islander Jock]

G'day all,
wrt the emergency exits and jettisonability (is that a word?) of doors and windows. I believe that even some of the more common western manufactured helicopters leave a bit to be desired wrt their exits.

For example, the B212 cannot open the sliding door once the floats are inflated. The only option is to peel the tape which breaks the seal around the cabin windows. The small exit combined with the likelihood of pax trying to escape with inflated lifejackets or whilst wearing bulky survival suits does not lend itself to a high probability of success. The S76 has a release which is not easily reached from the adjacent seat. Have not flown in the Dauphin so cannot comment there.

As a HUET instructor, currently working in W- Africa I know for a fact that many of the jettison activation systems will be beyond the capability of many of the nationals should things go pear shaped in a controlled or semi controlled ditching and subsequent rollover.

I'm very interested in the views of the flight crews wrt the above.
In the absence of having survived a ditching myself, my teaching is limited to what I read or other real life experiences relayed to me.

Thanks in advance,

IJ

[Gunship]

Very interesting comments IJ !

Pressume you are in Nigeria area.

I remember in my old SAAF days we as pilots one day decided to at random test PUMA ejection systemns .. I am afraid it was a nightmare and bieg repurcations ? spelling? was heard and felt as we though ourselves as "very professional" in the 70's and 80's (good old days) :D

I promise you our aircraft WILL be tested tomorrow :E

Cheers (also) from West Africa ! :8

[Islander Jock]

G'day Gunship,

Did Nigeria (Lagos) a couple of years back but despite positive reception from DPR, the training centre never really took off [sic].

Currently working in Luanda.

Cheers

IJ

[cpt]

Hello Gunship and Islander Jock !

I have been around in Africa for quite a while me too...now in Gabon but very likely in Angola again very soon.
To come back to emergency exits on these russian "Mi", I remember having seen an army Mi 8 MTV just after it crashed on landing; it stopped on its right side (as on most of cases), the tank was cruhed and fuel was everywhere....the 2 emergency exits on the right side were of course unusable and the left sliding door was out of reach because of the fuselage width.
Everybody on board (5) went off from the cockpit roof hatch.
Lucky it wasn't winter with the big "KA50" heater/burner switched on (just in front of right fuel tank !!!)
No chance left, let alone with 24 passengers aboard (but again, this helicopter never has been designed for "public transport")
If correctly maintained, (and this is the problem now,in a "no investment / maximum profit context") the jettisoning system looks reliable.
I have an accidental out of control ditching some years ago, in S365C model, and althought the emergency exits jettisoning is very simple here, I couldn't jettison my right door only because the bottom of it was already under a few centimeters of water and pressure was already too high on this big surface.
But my 4 passengers where outside in seconds!!! I managed to follow from the co-pilot door once inverted!
In general I think the problem is a lack of standardization in jettisoning systems and doors lockings, no wonder passengers are confused.
But apparently an effort has been made on new generation of off-shore helicopters.
Not too hot where you are now Gunship ?;)

[Cyclic Hotline]

ONGC chopper was grounded, repair was on until day of crash

INQUIRY REPORT: Crash that killed 23 ONGC personnel last year because of poor maintenance, shoddy checks and pilot’s haste

RITU SARIN

NEW DELHI, MAY 28: The MI-172 Mesco helicopter that crashed on August 11 last year killing 23 ONGC personnel and four crew on board had been grounded just four days earlier to replace key components, including the tail rotor shaft and the gear box. In fact, maintenance work continued right until the morning of the crash. And there is no evidence to show that requisite tests were done before allowing the chopper to take off with passengers.

This is the startling revelation in the confidential inquiry report submitted to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) this week. The 51-page report, obtained by The Indian Express, has a wealth of detail: on how poor maintenance compounded by pilot error caused one of the worst crashes in India’s chartered flight sector. And snatches of personal and poignant details from on board the flight minutes before it crashed into the Arabian Sea after take-off from the ONGC helideck.

Like crew members discussing the fall in share prices and the quality of coffee served before take-off. ‘‘Is this cold water or bloody hot coffee?’’ a crew member had asked.

For Mesco, the Mumbai-based company which operated the helicopter and employed the crew, the report is bad news although the helicopter had a vaild certificate of registration and airworthiness. The inquiry’s findings expose glaring loopholes in its maintenance set-up and suggests that the ‘‘extreme haste with which the operators were handling sensitive flying operations’’ could have been one factor behind the crash.

The salient findings in the report:

• On August 8 (four days prior to the crash) the helicopter was grounded to replace the tail rotor drive shaft, intermediate gear box and tail gear box because these units were reaching their ‘‘life limitation.’’

Work continued until the morning of August 11—the day of the crash. No checks were done before take-off.

What needs to be done asap

The crash probe report recommends:
• Russian helicopter systems should be closely monitored
• Detailed maintenance procedure sheets should be prepared for MI-172 choppers
• Small operators should be made to give names of engineers who carry out inspections, even if they are not on the rolls
• Safety audit of all helidecks



• As the chopper’s rudder controls are disturbed while changing these units, the control adjustment has to be done. No records available to show that this was indeed done.

• From August 7 to 11, the ‘‘travelling control transmission’’ was also replaced. There are no documents confirming the reliability of the new adjustment. After replacement, the crew switched on the engines and hovered for (only) three minutes to test the systems.

• Cockpit conversations show that the pilots had detected ‘‘abnormalities’’ in the right pedal. Pedal’s records show that the new control system wasn’t regulated.

• The Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) data show that the sensor was not properly installed during maintenance work and so the tail rotor’s pitch values were not recorded.

• Evidently, the pilot was in haste, the liftoff was ‘‘unusually quick.’’

• The emergency flotation system was not switched on during the fall of the helicopter and its activation button remained closed.

[Ascend Charlie]

The survivor's comment scares me:

He had the seatbelt off even before it crashed.

Great Huet technique, eh? But why is it that the only survivors were the ones who took off their belts before impact?:confused:

[Cyclic Hotline]

Chopper trouble for ONGC

Kanika Datta / New Delhi September 10, 2004

Report questions company's helicopter charter policy.

The three-member independent committee set up to investigate the ONGC helicopter crash off the Sagar Kiran rig near Mumbai on August 11, 2003, in which 27 people died, has strongly criticised ONGC for irregularities in chartering the helicopter from Mesco Airlines and the lack of helicopter underwater escape training for personnel working on its rigs.

The report, which is still under wraps, has also censured the civil aviation policy on aircraft charter which limits ONGC’s options to government-owned Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL) and small domestic operators “of small status” rather than the best available globally.

The report, a copy of which is available with Business Standard, was submitted to the petroleum ministry in March this year, when the National Democratic Alliance was in power.

Mesco's Mi-172 helicopter was chartered on “call out” or stand-by duty in March 2003, owing to Pawan Hans' inability to provide an Mi-172.

The report observed that Mesco was the only other domestic operator to possess an Mi-172 and, therefore, the only one in a position to make an offer. Thus, it said, the “call out award would smack of accepting a single tender”.

The report said: “This ought not to have escaped the attention of the officers who processed the tender. As a rule of wisdom, they should have included the alternative of two or three medium helicopters as well in lieu of the Mi-172. “

ONGC has not yet replied to a faxed questionnaire sent on September 2. The report said ONGC's tender committee omitted several important qualifying criteria in the letter the corporation sent to bidders on March 20, 2003 after a pre-bid conference (Pawan Hans was a token bidder who was disqualified early in the proceedings).

The excluded criteria covered the requirement that the helicopter should have more than 400 flying hours life on major components since the last overhaul and a certificate from an authorised agency that the helicopter's instrument flight rating (IFR) equipment was in working order.

When the committee questioned ONGC’s chief of offshore logistics on these waivers, he said: “ONGC had no option but to accede to the request of the bidders in the face of limited availability of helicopters in the domestic market and stringent Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines regarding hiring helicopters from foreign operators.”

The report questioned whether the waivers were called for and whether the chief of offshore logistics (COL) was competent to accord these. It observed that the circumstances “raise eyebrows and not without reason in the aftermath of the events”.

The helicopter in question had been grounded for legal reasons for six months to March 30, 2003. The report said the helicopter did not have a certificate of airworthiness from the DGCA on the day the bid was submitted (March 27, 2003).

When contacted by Business Standard, Natasha Singh, CEO of Mesco Airlines, denied this, saying the DGCA initially issued a limited authorisation for seven days, after which it was revalidated for a year. The report, however, said the limited certificate of airworthiness was obtained only on March 31, 2003.

The report also said the helicopter lacked a valid IFR certificate. This is usually issued by an “authorised agency” designated by the DGCA. In Mesco's case, the designated DGCA authority was the airline's quality control manager . But the instrument flight rating certificate had been signed by Mesco's engineering-in-charge, who was not an authorised signatory.

Mesco's Singh explained that this had been the practice since 1996, since the engineering-in-charge was directly responsible for the maintenance of the aircraft and therefore in a better position to certify its safety than the quality control manager who was “a commercial person and the DGCA's man on Mesco's board”.

The committee also found that the helicopter had less than the stipulated amount of residual flying hours for several key components and that Mesco Airlines had submitted a false certificate to this effect.

“Critical examination of crucial details, gathered from Mesco...confirms that the left engine had 343.07 residual hours and the tail gear box, tail rotor drive shaft and intermediate gear box 266.04 hours as on 31.2.03,” the report said.

Singh refuted this, saying the certificate validated the residual hours on the in-house stock of components which were available, not necessarily the components on the helicopter and that this had been standard practice in the past.

The committee was headed by former Petroleum Secretary TS Vijayaraghavan, former Chairman and Managing Director of Oil India SCN Jatar and Pritam Singh, the head of the Gurgaon-based Management Development Institute.