What's New In W. Africa (Nigeria)

[Troglodita]

Night recency

Griffo,

After the recent accident in Dubai I assume that you are inferring that 90 days is far too infrequent! It probably is! I am not familiar with the Maersk Rig where the accident occurred but would be interested to learn whether it was fully CAP 437 compliant - in particular with reference to D value and 10% outboard aiming circle offset. Maersk are usually spot on but were they in this instance? If so - harsh but truism from old Mike E at GHC was always "You are only as good as your last flight!"

What we do in Warri/Escravos is ensure that no crew goes on to nights until they have flown 3 x night deck t/o's and landings and have been co-jo on 3 more. They then work a 6 week hitch being on night standby approximately once a week. After 6 weeks leave - same again - i.e. the recency is at least once prior to a 42 day stint. It is not unusual for individuals to complete 2 x recency flights per hitch. We use the less well lit locations and also practice rig radar GPS approaches at the same time.

Once again - this is no guarantee of proficiency but combined with 2 x OPCI's and 6 hours of annual Sim is probably substantially more than most offshore operators achieve.

As Mama Put pointed out - we don't fly night CAT so rely on Training Only flights!

The Oil Company has accepted that this minimum level of revenue training is not negotiable (certainly not downwards!)

Trog

[JFRozier]

In true company spirit and to prove that Bristow is just one big family of happiness which truly knows how to reward loyal service, Dickwad Birdman put himself in harm's way and visited Nigeria lately. He probably came over to tell Mike Himmler what a great job he's doing in cutting away hundreds of useless jobs and causing much misery and grief to the families of all those wicked Nigerians who have been making so many problems for the company for so many years. In a memorable ceremony loyalty awards were handing out and everyone enjoyed the merrily burning barbecue and the happy feeling of belonging to one team, one world, one mission. Mr Himmler is rumored to find that he is having quite a struggle and when he finally publishes his autobiography the title, 'My Struggle' will be reflecting this. The Scottish version will surely bring back memories of famous Scottish balladeer Hamish Imlach rendering his version of 'I Was a Gay Spark In My Time', from his live album of 1967. The German versie, to be published under the title 'Mein Kampf' may bring forth other memories of another person, renowned for his dictatorial ways.

[griffothefog]

night approaches...

Trog,
The last offshore operator I worked for did a similar gig to your lot....

But I have to say that as a then line trainer, I have been scared ****less by some of the more experienced line captains that were supposedly current
I think night offshore should be a dedicated, current SAR crew. Yes I know the majority of old geezers will be saying we did this and we did that back then... so did I Oil companies should pay for this service.... ****ers

[bristowburnout]

Nigerian Unions declare dispute with Bristow Helicopters MD, Imlach

MamaPut,

No, far from it. It's obvious that many people agree with JF Rozier as today's Nigerian newspaper, The Nation reveals:

MD’s insensitiveness, high handedness, racist tendencies

NUATE, NAAPE and ATSSSAN have sent a petition sent to Bill Chiles, president and chief executive officer of Bristow Group Incorporated, demanding immediate removal of Mr Michael Murdoch Imlach, the Managing Director, Bristow Helicopters Nigeria/PAN African Airlines Nigeria for alleged insensitivity to staff welfare , as well as administrative excesses.

Due to the MD’s insensitiveness, high handedness, racist tendencies and witch hunting of those who are bold enough to tell him the truth, the generality of our workforce now go about their duties in fear, uncertain of what will happen to them tomorrow due to the managing director’s incessant threats to sack or retrench them’ the unions noted.

I don't think any of the expat staff in Nigeria would differ too much from that opinion either. Friends still out there describe him as an arrogant, unfeeling, narrow-minded, self-opinionated little bully boy . Just what's needed to build on all the things that Neddy Holdon managed to achieve in improving morale as well as increasing company profitability - NOT . I think all expatriate staff should talk to the Nigerian staff and just for once act in concert to get this a$$hole to change his ways or be removed.

History, however, has shown that in most cases where Nigerian unions make a lot of noise and strong demands, the rhetoric is much stronger than any real desire for action and unless they are prepared to back up their threats with strong, significant and early action they will easily be outmanoeuvred by the likes of Mr Himmler and his cohorts. Chevron employees managed it with their management, but I'd be surprised if they nationals will really do anything or if there are any expatriates prepared to stand up and be counted with them. Shame, because if just for once the 2 acted together they could win this dispute and either force him to change or go.

[Good Man In Africa]

BBO

Mike Armlick is just not interested in people/personalities/careers except where they help his KPIs.

He's a bottom line man, simple as that. Money, however small the amount, is his obsession. The bad feeling generated by the N150 BRC coffee (to save how much a month ?) is way out of proportion to the actual amount but he doesn't care.

[affluent boss]

It is no mean feat to successfully annoy both Expats and Nationals in equal measure at the same time. Bravo

[cyclicoyibo]

S92 Sar

Trog et al,

It's true that the Agbami contract includes the provision of a fully equiped SAR S92. The first S92 to arrive will be a utility aircraft and it will be followed approx one year later with the SAR machine. The delay in the second aircraft is due to the amount of mods necessary. The aircraft will not be some "mickey mouse" lash up but the full SAR version as seen in Europe. One and possibly two other oil companies have come on board with CNL, and when (if) the other majors join them there should then be a second SAR machine brought in to country. With dedicated crews and 24 hours cover this should then see the end of night stand by in Nigeria.

Cyclic

[s92fella]

Interesting, when is this all supposed to happen?

[bristowburnout]

S92,

We're talking about Nigeria here, so it'll be 'any day from now'

[JFRozier]

cyclic,

Will the second SAR machine also be a Bristow S92 or, as rumored a CHC EC225? Will CHC even still be there? If it's a joint venture will Bristow crews be expected to pay N150 for a cup of Nescafe when on duty while Aero crews have free percolated coffee . Will Mike A$$lick be involved in this? If so, will there be any spares or crews? Does the S92 still have problems with engine failures and have the gearbox problems and lack of a run-dry gearbox now been solved? If not, would you be happy going hundreds of miles offshore in it at night? Is the AW139 going to be one of the SAR machines?

I've seen some pictures of the EC225s now in Lagos and they look very nice in the Aero paint job. When will they start operating? Do they have a good number of crews already experienced in Nigerian operations integrated into them or is it just already qualified crews, new to Nigeria? Do they actually belong to Aero or CHC? Is 'hero pilot' from the S76 now being upgraded to EC225 so he's got some serious engine power to pull next time

Where are all the pilots and (even more so) engineers going to come from to make all this happen?

[TomBola]

If Himmler stays here, maybe there will be no Bristow approx one year later. he won't care. He will have ruined many lives for his own financial benefit and gone.

On a totally unrelated topic, if anyone really thinks night flying is safe in this country, the thread on the Dauphin night crash in Morecambe Bay is sobering. Here we see what happened to an experienced, night recent crew flying in conditions common in Northern Europe in the winter, and then we talk of how safe it can be in Nigeria?

[tistisnot]

TomBola,

At least most of you as operators in Nigeria use simulators - amazing that this UK operator did not.

[MamaPut]

In view of what has been written here (in countries where there is night SAR cover and where night passenger flying offshore is practiced regularly) do you have additional points to make in support of night flying in Nigeria where there is ZERO night infrastructure of support, with the possible exception of flying to rigs a few miles out from Escravos with plenty of boats to rescue the crew?

Night Flying

Morecambe Bay accident AIB Report

[froggy_pilot]

Cyclicoyibo

I think you are mixing Search And Rescue with night medevac

I'll be very happy to know that there is a dedicated fully SAR aircraft in Nigeria

But a S92 with SAR capabilities won't be able to land on some rigs due to the weight limitations, smaller aircrafts will still have to do night stand-by

[Troglodita]

Well said Froggy

But a S92 with SAR capabilities won't be able to land on some rigs due to the weight limitations, smaller aircrafts will still have to do night stand-by

some rigs

Try nearly all rigs and most platforms

Not really a weight problem though. Apart from Agbami and Bonga there are virtually no decks in any part of Nigeria that have sufficient "D" value to accept a S92 Unrestricted. It may be acceptable to operate "Restricted" to some inshore main platforms but certainly not to the vast majority of the jack ups and inadequate lighting and virtually non existant Fire Fighting facilities even on main platforms will probably rule these out too. As for Swamp platforms - forget them all - the larger ones are only 14 meters "D"

Trog

[MamaPut]

Missing the Point

But Troglo and froggy, surely the whole point of large, powerful, dedicated SAR machines such as the EC225 or S92 is that they don't have to land on the decks to do their job, they can just winch medevacs from the deck from the hover. We're only talking about emergency flights here, so fire fighting cover isn't important and modern SAR aircraft don't require to use the platform or flight-deck lighting as they carry adequate floodlighting capability on board and additionally have FLIR. After all they don't worry about D values, lighting or fire fighting facilities when carrying out rescues from trawlers, supply boats or standby boats in Europe. With the range achievable with either EC225 or S92 they should be able to cover most of the Nigerian oil patch with one in Lagos and one in either Port harcourt or Warri/Escravos.

[Troglodita]

Overkill??

Mama,

I would hazard a guess that most of the (thankfully few - at least at CNL & Shell) callouts of the Night Standby crews are for rather low level medical problems which occur due to the generally relatively low level of expertise of offshore medics (not being rude) who will initiate the callout because they are not trained or authorised to handle anything other than routine ailments.

I think dispatching an S92 to winch up a man with raised blood pressure or bleeding piles or loss of appetite may be construed as ambulance chasing on a grand scale! How many actual medevacs warrant a night HiLine transfer?

Even the callout resulting in the loss of BDZ was for a man with a couple of crushed fingers who would have (with 20/20 hindsight) been considerably more healthy today if he had taken a bunch of tylenol and waited till daybreak.

Do you really think existing Night Standby will disappear?

Trog

[MamaPut]

Trogs,

I agree that it could be construed as an overkill, but if the oil companies are willing to invest the sorts of sums necessary for 2 large, expensive new helicopters to do SAR here, they will have to do night training anyway and part of the cost of running the night part of the SAR could be offset by finishing all present night SAR contracts, which I'd guess are for a total of around 6 or 7 helicopters, plus extra associated crews between Bristow and Aero right now.

[cyclicoyibo]

S92 Sar

JFR,

the second SAR if it happens will no doubt be a Bristow S92. It would make little sense to split an operation of this sort between two operators and have two different types of aircraft. As I said, the second machine is dependant upon another one or two of the major companies coming on board. Tha first machine is a done deal.

Froggy,

Thanks for the reminder of the difference between night stand by and SAR. Read my lips FULLY DEDICATED SAR EQUIPPED TO EUROPEAN STANDARDS (check out Norsk).

Mama,

Thanks for the input, you are quite right that there will be no need to land for most sorties. The SAR S92 with auxiliary fuel tank fitted has a mission radius of around 330nm plus reserves. Also, one would hope that as it will be a joint venture that fuel will be made available on any suitable deck, should it be needed, regardless of company.

Trog,

Quite right mate. In the past there have been far too many night calls for aircraft for trivial reasons. I do see that since the tradgedy of BDZ there has been a change in the attitude of the oil companies and they would reject any call from offshore that was not of a serious nature. Not always going to be the case of course but we can only hope!

I read a lot on these pages about the difficulties of operating here in Nigeria but things have improved noticeably in the time that I have been here. ATC is markedly better in Lagos at least and even in PH efforts are being made to make life safer, if not easier. There are many more modern machines here than ever was the case in the past. Just a few old wrecks to get rid of and we'll be there. Both of the major companies set high standards in both engineering and operations. There is, of course, the odd one that slips through the net, but that's the same the whole world over. So, keep up the good work guys, fly safely, and start to believe that you can make a difference.

Cyclic.

[Phone Wind]

cyclic,

Does that really mean that BDD, BCT, SKY, BCZ, BGS, AQK, AQL, BAF amongst others will really disappear in the next 20 years?