AS332L2 Ditching off Shetland: 23rd August 2013

[jimf671]

How long before we see the first 189 in the North Sea.

There had been talk of late 2013 but press reports of earlier this month now state first quarter 2014.

... it demonstrates a lack of understanding of the nature of a brand new type, to be looking forward to it (assuming you are a passenger).

Agreed.

It's the maths.

[jimf671]

.. it must be borne in mind that Norwegians are much better at doing everything.

It must be borne in mind that Norwegians have a Gross National Income per capita that is 135% greater than the Brits even by the conservative World Bank numbers.

[stringfellow]

Thanks for clarifying the point about despite a partial cross wind from the right the approach to 09 being the best option given the conditions at the time. Thank you and again thoughts with the families who have lost loved ones.

[Magjam]

jimf671:

Quote:
.. it must be borne in mind that Norwegians are much better at doing everything.
It must be borne in mind that Norwegians have a Gross National Income per capita that is 135% greater than the Brits even by the conservative World Bank numbers.

...and your point is?

[HeliComparator]

Mitchaa, that doesn't surprise me at all, social media excels at whipping up hysteria. If these bods are so well informed, maybe they should set up their own offshore transportation business? Or maybe they should leave it to the folk who fly every day, not just a round trip every 5 weeks.

Ps, as you can probably tell, I am past caring!

[Bladestrike]

As I'm sure most are, awaiting for something more solid regarding what actually happened.....please guys.....

[XV666]

Some images from the Shetland News article:

[Harry O]

Call to ground all types of super puma - BBC

BBC - Shetland helicopter crash: Call to ground Super Pumas

BBC News - Shetland helicopter crash: Call to ground Super Pumas

Part of the article.

"All Super Puma helicopters should be grounded after a crash off Shetland claimed the lives of four people, a safety group says.
The Helicopter Safety Steering Group (HSSG) said this should include four different models.
Earlier CHC, which operated the helicopter that crashed two miles west of Sumburgh Airport on Friday, said it would suspend Super Puma L2 flights.
An investigation has not yet established the cause of the tragedy.
Three of the four bodies have been recovered. Police Scotland confirmed 14 others were rescued.
Coastguard authorities say they are unlikely to recover the wreckage in the dark or in current weather conditions.
The HSSG is recommending the temporary suspension of all Super Puma commercial passenger flights to and from offshore oil and gas installations within the UK.
It said it would meet again on Wednesday to review its position, and would reconvene before then if any significant information came to light.
The Super Puma series of helicopters includes the variants: AS332 L, L1, L2 and EC225. "

[buzz111]

Greenville,

Here's a link to the mentioned report (Helicopter Safety Study) by Sintef:

http://www.sintef.no/Teknologi-og-samfunn/Sikkerhet/Rapporter--Reports/Helikoptersikkerhetsstudie-3-HSS-3/

Pdf-files on right hand side - summary in English

Rgds

[Aucky]

For example, look at the support this page has got in just over 12hrs. Just read how many of the comments from offshore workers.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Destro...49173595095243

The feeling is very very strong, the workforce will put pressure on their unions, CHC/Bristows/Bond do whatever their clients want them too.

That is staggering, over 12,500 people in 15hrs, and going up by 50/min.

[HeliComparator]

...and at least 50 of them have ever worked offshore!

[jimf671]

That is staggering, over 12,500 people in 15hrs, and going up by 50/min.

Only a handful of whom were listening when they were at school.

There is a limited role for facts on Facebook.

[HeliComparator]

Well they certainly weren't listening at school when it was explained that an apostrophe is not used to signify a plural!

[The Sultan]

The loss of any aircraft is of concern and we will know soon what caused this one. The mindless speculation is fun to read, but it would be nice if we could up the IQ.

It obviously not the transmission shaft as at least in the short term this only results in the loss of the oil pumps. Therefore, not something catastrophic which happens in seconds.

Dual engine failure also would not happen instantly unless it was an uncontained failure of one taking out the other. As there was no bang this obviously did not happen, and this applies to all other major drive system failures.

This could have simply been a missing cotter pin or loose nut in the collective control which resulted in the loss of connection. Once the simplex collective link is broken you are at the mercy of where the blades feather to. Unfortunately at low speeds this may end up with too little lift to do anything but barely cushion the impact.

The Sultan

[malabo]

Thanks Sultan, at least Puma pilots flying offshore can up their game. Looking at the photos and met reports, I can see the floats were inflated but did not keep the aircraft upright in a somewhat benign sea state. Floats aren't normally armed on an instrument approach to an airport, so something actioned by pilots, but without enough aircraft controllability for a stable water entry?

LOC DME 09 for Sumburgh is a CDFA approach, constant descent from 2100' at 6.4 back to a DA of 300' about 1 mile back.

How does the L2 fly these? Anybody that can give us a rundown on what autopilot modes would have been coupled and what capture settings for AS/VS/ rad or baro alt would be? How far back from the threshold lights does the DA put you?

[SASless]

There shall be some interesting work done by Divers in the next few weeks I bet. Working in close proximity to the rocks is not going to be much fun. Finding missing parts will be of much interest to the investigators. Determining what damage was caused by the aircraft beating up on the rocks in the surf will have to be part of their effort. I suppose some aerial recce of the cliff side will be in order as well to see if there was any contact with the rocks prior to entering the water.

As the Pilots survived.....they will be able to provide investigators with their best "clues" as to the starting point for figuring this out.

[KiwiNedNZ]

Question for those who fly in that area after seeing the Shetland news photos.

Is it significant the gear is down or would they have lowered it on approach to their home base. Just wondering.

Thanks.

[bigglesbutler]

The gear would have been lowered during approach checks (normal point to do so), the accident was on a fairly short finals.

Si

[KiwiNedNZ]

Thanks Biggles. Sounds like he was very close to making it home safely - very sad.

[mickjoebill]

Floats aren't normally armed on an instrument approach to an airport,

Not armed, even if the approach takes them low over water? Aren't take off and landings the most hazardous phases of flight?




Mickjoebill