Helicopter came close to crashing into North Sea

A helicopter came close to falling into the North Sea because of a fault with the tail rotor, an investigation has found.

Crew members lost control of the aircraft as it was landing on the West Franklin platform in December 2016, seeing it drag to the right after a heavy descent.

The Sikorsky S92 rolled to the left and continued to rotate 180 degrees before stopping near the helideck’s edge.

A report by the Air Accident Investigations Branch found if the loss of control had happened sooner, the helicopter would probably have ended up in the water.

BORDERS