Banned beacons reintroduced

Published on Thursday 4 June 2009 22:03

PERSONAL locator beacons (PLBs) are to be reintroduced on North Sea helicopter flights next month in to improve safety.

The beacons were taken out of service in March because of fears that the devices interfered with the main emergency beacon signal transmitted from a Super Puma helicopter that crashed into the North Sea in February with 16 oilmen and two pilots on board. All 18 men on board survived.

But Oil & Gas UK, the pan industry trade body, yesterday announced that a technical solution had been found to allow the devices to be brought back into service in July.

A joint action plan, paving the way for the PLBs to be reintroduced, has been agreed at a meeting between oil industry leaders, helicopter operators, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Health and Safety Executive.

Bob Keiller, the chairman of the UK Oil & Gas Helicopter Task Group, set up to address helicopter safety issues in the aftermath of the fatal North Sea helicopter accident on 1 April, said: "Search and rescue operations rely on the powerful long-range rescue beacons to home in on accident sites.

"We were therefore concerned to learn that the weaker personal beacons, with a more limited signal range, had the ability to switch these off.

"Following an instruction from the CAA to the helicopter operators to stop carrying the personal beacons in 'standby' mode in case they were accidentally activated and interfered with aircraft safety systems, the industry withdrew the personal beacons until a technical solution could be found."

All models of PLBs used during offshore flights will also be tested by the manufacturers to demonstrate that they are unlikely to activate accidentally.