Helicopters ten times as dangerous as jets
● FAI into ditching hears choppers fly in ‘more hazardous operating environments’
North Sea offshore helicopter flights are ten times more dangerous than transatlantic aero plane journeys, an inquiry into a fatal helicopter crash has heard.
A fatal accident inquiry (FA I) into the ditching off Shetland which claimed four lives heard that offshore helicopters fly in a “more hazardous operating environment” and it would not be realistic to expect the same levels of safety as in jet aircraft.
Two crew members and 12 passengers on the Super Puma L 2 survived when it ditched on its approach to Sumburgh Airport in Shetland at 6:17pm on 23 August 2013. But Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin, Moray; Gary Mccrossan, 59, from Inverness; Duncan Munro ,46, from Bishop Auckland, Count y Durham; and George Allison, 57, from Winchester, Hampshire, died.
Captain Richard News on, flight operations manager for helicopters at the Civil Aviation Authority( CA A ), was asked about are view of offshore helicopter operations which the organisation produced.
It states the mortality risk for offshore helicopter occupants is an order of magnitude higher, meaning ten times higher, than for people on large fixed wing commercial aircraft transatlantic style flights.
Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle, who is leading the inquiry, asked: “So based on the North Sea, it’s ten times more dangerous to be in a helicopter than it is in a fixed wing transatlantic aircraft?”
Captain News on replied: “The statement from that perspective is true, but you are comparing two completely different forms of transport to two completely different operating environments.” He also agreed the risk is ten times higher than a very low percentage figure and said in the last five years the fatality rate on the North Sea is zero, while the industry has halved its accident rate over that period.
Martin Richardson QC, who is leading the inquiry for the Crown, showed a table comparing mortality risks between offshore helicopters and large commercial aero - planes based on data between 2002 and 2011.
He said: “If one were to take a helicopter flight every day for 1,277 years, then that would be how many flights one would need to take in order to guarantee that somebody would be killed?” to which Captain Newson agreed.
The table showed the figure for large commercial aero - plane flights was 13,573 years.
The CAA document shown to the inquiry states :“The mortality risk for offshore helicopter occupants is an order of magnitude higher than for jet CAT passengers.
“Due to the more complex nature of the aircraft used and the more hazardous operating environment, it is not considered realistic to expect the level of safety of offshore helicopter operations to match that of jet transport operations.”
The report said the CAA view is that “significant scope for improvement does exist”.
An AAIB report published in 2016 found the pilots failed to properly monitor the flight instruments and failed to notice their speed was decreasing until it was too late to avoid the Super Puma plunging into the sea.