Helicopter pilots praised as 14 survive North Sea ditching

They were forced to ditch the Bond-operated Super Puma into the sea 25 miles east of Aberdeen after the pilot was said to have reported a low oil pressure problem shortly after taking off from the city’s heliport.

Just one of the 14 survivors remained in hospital for observation last night, following their amazing escape.

Bond Aviation Group said it was suspending EC225 Super Puma helicopter flights for safety reasons until further notice, as a result of the incident.

Jim McAuslan, general secretary of the pilots’ union Balpa, was quick to praise the heroism and skill of the two pilots at the controls of the EC 225 Super Puma – the same model of helicopter that survived a similar controlled ditching in the North Sea in February 2009.

In April of that year, another version of the Super Puma crashed and two pilots and 14 oil workers were killed, in the worst helicopter disaster in the North Sea for two decades.

Mr McAuslan said: “This looks like a terrific piece of airmanship from very skilled pilots. A helicopter ditching is one of the most difficult manoeuvres in commercial aviation, and yet reports indicate that every passenger and crew member on board has been winched to safety.

“We pay the utmost tribute to the pilots involved in the incident and, of course, the search and rescue pilots who came to the passengers’ and crew’s aid.”

However, the latest North Sea emergency sparked renewed concerns about the safety of offshore helicopter operations.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT), called for a major safety review following what he described as “this latest horrific incident in the North Sea”.

He said: “This ditching incident shines the spotlight yet again on the issue of safety in our offshore industry and raises fundamental questions that must be addressed by both the companies and the safety authorities.

“RMT’s offshore branch will play a full role in the investigation, which once again involves Bond Helicopters, the owners of the craft that crashed in April 2009 with the loss of 16 lives.”

John Taylor, regional officer of the Unite union, said he was “gravely concerned” about the ditching and claimed: “There have been problems with helicopter engines recently that have not been reported to the Helicopter Steering Group.

“Obviously, the reason for the ditching has to be investigated, but Unite is calling for an urgent meeting of the Helicopter Steering Group to be convened.”

Mr McAuslan said: “We will be ensuring that the Civil Aviation Authority look at the resulting AAIB [Air Accident Investigation Branch] report and put some effort into seeing whether any trends are emerging in North Sea helicopter operations.”

A spokesman for Bond declined to comment on claims the pilots had reported an oil pressure problem shortly before the ditching. He said: “The company is investigating the cause of the incident and the appropriate authorities have been informed, as laid down in standard operating procedure.

“The helicopter is currently upright and afloat on the surface of the sea and arrangements are being made to recover it.”

The company said the fleet would be grounded while an investigation was carried out, and a decision as to whether they would be allowed start flying would be taken tonight. In the meantime, Bond would look to find replacement helicopters to transport workers to oil rigs.

The drama began shortly before noon after the helicopter left Aberdeen heliport bound for the Maersk Resilient drilling rig and Ensco 102 jack-up rig in the Jasmine field, 200 miles east south east of Aberdeen.

On board were the two Bond pilots and 12 contractor personnel, including two oilmen from Halliburton, eight from Ensco, two from Stag and one from Brandt .

Bond said the helicopter had made a “controlled ditching” at approximately 12:09pm.

All 14 on board, who had been wearing standard survival suits, managed to get into a life raft, which had been automatically deployed when the aircraft ditched. A major rescue operation, co-ordinated by Aberdeen Coastguard, then swung into operation.

A Sea King search and rescue helicopter was scrambled from RAF Boulmer in Northumberland, together with a Bond rescue helicopter and a Coastguard rescue helicopter from Sumburgh on Shetland. The RNLI lifeboats at Aberdeen and Peterhead were launched.

Nine of the survivors were originally taken on board the Aberdeen lifeboat, which reached the scene of the ditching within an hour. Five men were winched on board one of the rescue helicopters and four were later transferred from the lifeboat to a second chopper before being airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

An RNLI spokesman said the crew of the Aberdeen lifeboat had found the survivors huddled together in a life raft.

He went on: “The weather was choppy out there – wet and windy – not great conditions, but the RNLI volunteers are trained to deal with all types of weather, all types of sea and all types of scenarios.”

The five men left on the lifeboat did not require medical aid and were taken into Aberdeen harbour. Last night, only one of the nine men who were airlifted to hospital remained there for checks.

Shortly after the men arrived at the hospital, A&E consultant James Ferguson said: “It looks like when they ditched they were able to make a controlled exit from the helicopter.

“Really, all we are seeing is minor bumps and grazes from getting out of the helicopter and into the boat. They have been very lucky.”

He added: “They were all pretty shaken when they first came in – they looked pretty pale. It was quite a traumatic event for them. A couple of them were just a wee bit cold but nobody with actual clinical hypothermia.”

The type of aircraft involved is identical to the one involved in a controlled ditching in February 2009 in which 16 oil workers and two pilots escaped unscathed, 500 yards from a BP platform.