Aberdeen & North
Helicopter carrying 14 people ditches into the North Sea off Aberdeen
By Leanna MacLarty 10 May 2012 12:44 BST
Bond helicopter: An aircraft has ditched into sea.STV
A helicopter carrying 14 people has ditched into the North Sea off Aberdeen.
All passengers and crew have survived the crash, which emergency services are referring to as a "controlled ditching".
All helicopter flights from Aberdeen have now been suspended as an investigation is launched into the circumstances of the ditching.
It is understood that everyone made it out of the aircraft and into a liferaft waiting to be picked up.
The helicopter, a Super Puma EC225, is sitting upright in the water.
It is understood it had left Aberdeen and was on a journey to the Maersk Resilient platform, and then on to Ensco 102, for oil operator Britannia, an umbrella company for Chevron/ConocoPhillips.
The crew broadcast an alert saying they had been forced to ditch the aircraft into the sea. It is thought that an oil pressure light had come on and crew decided to ditch immediately into the sea instead of returning to Aberdeen or heading on to the platform.
The incident happened around 25 miles east of Aberdeen, at around 12.30pm on Thursday.
Two civilian helicopters were first at the scene. They were joined by RAF helicopters from Boulmer and Shetland and rescue crews from Aberdeen and Peterhead.
The first six casualties from the ditching were airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary shortly before 2pm.
It has been confirmed that the helicopter is owned by Aberdeen operator Bond. It is the third time in three years that a Super Puma helicopter has ditched into the North Sea.
In February 2009, 16 passengers and two crew survived when an EC225 helicopter ditched near a BP installation around 125 miles east of Aberdeen.
Six weeks later another Super Puma helicopter crashed into the North Sea, this time leading to the death of all 16 people on board.
A report by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the pilots failed to notice the helicopter was descending into the sea about 300m short of a BP oil and gas platform.
The model of Super Puma involved in this crash is different from that involved in the fatal incident.
Earlier this week Bond grounded its entire fleet of Eurocopter EC135 helicopters across the UK over safety concerns.
Among those affected were the Scottish Ambulance Service’s two air ambulance helicopters that respond to emergencies across the country.
A crack was discovered on the main rotor hub, prompting a safety warning by the European Aviation Safety Agency (Easa).
Referring to the most recent incident, Jake Molloy, regional organiser with the RMT union, said: "If helicopters are landing in the North Sea, obviously you have to be concerned about safety but at this stage we don't know enough about what caused it."
Looking back on the previous incidents, he said: "It's still at the forefront of everybody's minds, which is why we need to know sooner rather than later what has caused this particular incident to allay any fears that people may have."
Related articles
Two years on: Service held for North Sea helicopter tragedy victims
Super Puma helicopters to return to service
Fatal helicopter crash occurred only six weeks after similar incident
North Sea helicopter survivor speaks out
BP suspends use of Super Puma helicopters
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