Pilot in helicopter crash ‘haunted by water in cockpit’
Commander had no memory of alerts prior to hitting North Sea with loss of four lives, inquiry told
‘That is my nightmare to this day. I didn’t understand how it could have happened’
A HELICOPTER pilot told an inquiry yesterday that he remains haunted by memories of his cockpit filling with water after it crashed into the North Sea, killing four oil workers.
Martin Miglans said in a statement to a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) that he struggled to remember anything prior to the crash until the “horror and shock of seeing the sea”.
His co-pilot and 12 other passengers survived when the Super Puma ditched on its approach to Sumburgh airport, Shetland, in August 2013.
Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin, Moray,
Gary Mccrossan, 59, from Inverness, Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, and George Allison, 57, from Winchester, Hants, died in the crash.
The first day of the inquiry also heard that the helicopter pilots did not notice their reducing airspeed until it was too late.
A joint minute of agreement which set out the sequence of events and loss of life at the beginning of the hearing concluded there was no evidence that a fault caused or contributed to the crash.
It said the helicopter was returning from the Borgsten Dolphin support platform to Sumburgh airport, with its speed reducing as it descended.
When an alert sounded at 300ft the commander attempted recovery action but it was “highly likely unrecoverable”, and the helicopter hit the water.
Ms Darnley, an offshore steward, and Mr Allison, a safety consultant, were found in the water among the debris and post-mortem examinations said they had drowned. Mr Munro, a production operative, also drowned but was found in the submerged fuselage still harnessed to his seat.
Mr Mccrossan, a welder, managed to escape to a life raft but was then seen to suffer chest pains. Although he was winched on to a rescue helicopter, resuscitation attempts failed. A postmortem examination showed he had been suffering from heart disease and it was thought the stress of the crash triggered his death.
The FAI was held virtually, having previously been delayed due to the pandemic. In a written statement Mr Miglans said: “It has destroyed my head. My world ended with that crash.”
He added: “The cockpit filling with water catches me every day.” He said he had no memory of speaking on a recording recovered from the aircraft, even after hearing it, saying he experiences “complete dissociation” from it.
“I just remember coming out of the cloud and there being water and that is it,” he said. “That is my nightmare to this day. I didn’t understand how it could have happened.”
Mr Miglans said he could not remember check-height alerts prior to the crash. He said he sustained a fractured spine, now walks on crutches and will never fly again. He also wrote that he has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder but does not want treatment or sympathy.
In an interview recorded several days after the crash that was presented to the inquiry, Mr Miglans said he remembered thinking “I am going to die, I am going to drown”.
However, he managed to get out and reach the surface. He said: “You do the
‘You do the training but it’s not a movie. When it’s real it’s shocking to the core’
training but it’s not a movie. When it’s real it’s shocking to the core.”
The inquiry also heard from Philip Sleight, deputy chief inspector of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
He read parts of an AAIB report, published in 2016, which found the pilots failed to properly monitor the flight instruments and failed to notice their airspeed was decreasing until it was too late to prevent the Super Puma plunging into the sea.
Derek Pyle, Sheriff Principal of Grampian, Highland and Islands, told the opening of the FAI that the hearing was of added importance because it was the first virtual fact-finding session of such a size and scope in Scotland, and perhaps the UK.
Surviving passengers are among those also expected to give evidence. The inquiry continues today.