Airbus: – This has never happened before – Bergens Tidende

Helicopter manufacturer is shocked that the main rotor fell off just before the helicopter crashed.

The images of the rotor blades spinning toward the ground at Turøy Friday morning, showing how defenseless the 13 people onboard the helicopter was.

Airbus Helicopters, the manufacturer behind the accident helicopter H225 Super Puma, tells BT that they are shocked by the horrific accident.

• the helicopter crashed at Turøy west of Bergen was Airbus Helicopters H225 Super Puma, which until last year was known as Eurocopter EC225.
• the helicopter can seat up to 19 passengers and a crew of three.
• helicopter type has been involved in five accidents in four years in the UK. The most serious occurred in 2009 when all 16 aboard perished in a shipwreck off Peterhead in Scotland.
• A Super Puma from Helikopter Service with twelve men on board crashed in 1997 on the way from Bronnoysund to Norne ship.
• in 2012 all ten helicopters of this type in Norway grounded because they had been involved in two emergency landings with short intervals of time.
• Helicopter manufacturer Airbus Helicopters is a defense industry company that was formed as Eurocopter in 1992.

– There is a deeply tragic event. Flight safety is our top priority and we are doing and will do everything to ensure flight safety. Otherwise there is no point making helicopters, says Alvaro Beteta Meredith, communications manager for Airbus Helicopters UK.

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– Never happened before

The six latest incidents happened with Super Puma helicopters. The helicopter crashed west of Bergen, fell to the ground without its most important component.

Asked says communications manager that they have not experienced the helicopter’s main rotor falling from the machine of this type.

– no, it has not happened before on a EC225, he said.

– We are in shock. Our highest priority is to find out what is the cause of the accident, he said.

The manufacturer is now awaiting the findings and details of the extensive investigation work. Until then they do not want to speculate on what might be causing the fatal accident.

– The main thing for us is to support investigative work. Norwegian and British aviation authorities have decided to stop all commercial helicopter traffic of passengers. It is a decision we support, says Meredith.

Airbus chief Bergen

Airbus Helicopters has sent a technical team to assist in the work. CEO Guillaume Faury is also expected to Bergen Sunday.

– He wants to show their support and respect for the bereaved, says Meredith.

Several eyewitnesses on the spot so the rotor in the air 20 -30 seconds after the crash on Friday morning. It was found several hundred meters from the crash site.

– It was a very strange sound of the rotor, which then fell off. In a few seconds went helicopter on queer and crashed, pretty middle of the island seen from me, told Monica Turøy Espelid to BT, which could then report a violent explosion and lots of smoke.

After the BT understands, characterize accident entire Airbus Helicopters organization.

– Amateur video of the rotor blades spinning in the air was totally shocking to see, says an anonymous source.

Waiting information

Airbus Helicopters have until now not been in direct contact with the bereaved, but concentrates on assisting the authorities. The company is also in regular contact with Statoil and CHC Helikopter Service.

– At this time it is our main priority, but also our duty to assist the investigation, as well as operators. That’s where we can make the most benefit for us, also facing the families, says Meredith.

It is too early to say anything about the type of helicopter will undergo technical changes resulting from the accident.

– What will happen next from Airbus Helicopters’ page?

– It depends on information from the AIBN. That they have found the black box, is positive. It will probably give us some information. We hope to get details from the investigation work during the next few hours or days, but it’s hard to say when.

Latest in BT’s coverage of the helicopter accident:

Reply may take one year

The gearbox has been helicopter Achilles heel. On accident helicopter was both gearbox and rotor head shifted during the last four months.

Both the French (BEA) and English AIBN (AAIB) assists the Norwegian survey team in connection with the helicopter accident. According AIBN may take up to a year to get answers as to why the helicopter crashed.

– BEA participate because this is a French produced helicopter. BEA has with the experts from both helicopter and engine manufacturers. AAIB is invited because Britain has experience with similar offshore operations and relatively recently investigated incidents involving the same type of helicopter, reports Accident Investigation Board said in a statement.

Further reports AIBN that they are working as quickly as possible.

• 29. April 2016: A helicopter with 13 people on board crashed at sea west of Turøy near Bergen on the way from Gullfaks to Flesland in Bergen. The rescue operation is in progress.
• 9. September 1997: A Super Puma from Helikopter Service with 12 men on board crashed en route from Bronnoysund to Norne. All were later found dead.
• 18. January 1996: A Super Puma helicopter made an emergency landing in the sea southwest of Egersund. All 18 on board were rescued by a rescue helicopter.
• 12. August 1991: A Bell 212 from Helikopter Service with three-man crew crashed while working on the flare on 2/4 S platform at Ekofisk. All three died instantly.
• 3. October 1990: A Bell 214 ST from Helikopter Service with five men on board flew into the mountains on the island Alden in Outer Sogn during a rescue mission. The five aboard were killed.
• 26. June 1978: The most serious helicopter accident so far in Norwegian oil history. An S-61N from Helikopterservice fell en route from Flesland to Statfjord A with 18 people on board. All perished. 13 were Norwegians.
• 23. November 1977: 12 people were killed when an S-61N from Wiking Helikopter Service flew straight into the sea 30 nautical mil east of the Ekofisk Complex.
• 9. July 1973: Four people were killed in the first helicopter accident with fatalities in the Norwegian sector when a Sikorsky S-61N from Helikopterservice wrecked on the way from the drilling rig Gulftide Ekofisk to Stavanger.

– rotor fell off in the US

it is extremely rare that the main rotor blade falls by helicopters, but it has happened. In January 2015 lost two people lives in a similar accident in Erie, United States.

On the helicopter category Enstrom 280FX, that is not the same as in Friday’s tragic incident at Turøy, loose rotor blade when the helicopter went in for a landing . The angle should have been steep, according to the preliminary casualty report from The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

A local reporter who saw the fatal accident, said that the helicopter began to lose altitude, she heard a kind of popping sound . The helicopter then started to rotate, before the main rotor fell off the top of the helicopter. The rest of the helicopter body sank into the ground, hit the ground and exploded.