Super Pumas’ crash alerts failed to work

A system designed to alert the emergency services to the location of a crashed aircraft failed to deploy after two Super Puma helicopters ditched last year, a new safety bulletin has revealed.

Tests are still being carried out to determine the exact causes of “potentially catastrophic” mechanical failures in the gearboxes of two Super Puma EC225s, which forced the two North Sea helicopters to ditch in 2012.

One of the Super Pumas was forced to ditch off Shetland in October, while the other ditched 30 miles off the coast of Aberdeen in May.

The safety bulletin, issued by the government’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB), has revealed potentially significant problems with the crash position indicator system (CPI), fitted to both aircraft.

The CPI involved in last May’s ditching failed to deploy, despite photographic evidence showing the sea level in the cockpit had been above the level at which the water-activated switch was mounted.