Regulator tightens flight safety rules for offshore helicopters in wake of August 2013 Super Puma tragedy
Tighter safety controls are to be imposed on helicopter flights in the North Sea, including a ban on flying in the most severe weather, after a string of crashes in recent years, the regulator has announced.
Other measures introduced by the Civil Aviation Authority will require enhanced safety equipment such as extra flotation devices for helicopters and emergency breathing systems for passengers.
Until helicopters have been upgraded, passengers will only be able to fly if seated next to an emergency window exit.
The new rules are the result of a comprehensive review of offshore helicopter operations undertaken with the Norwegian regulators and the European Aviation Safety Agency, with a panel of independent experts, conducted in the wake of the August 2013 Super Puma tragedy in which four people died.
The CAA said there would also be important changes to the way pilots are trained and checked, with the regulator also approving each offshore helideck to ensuring safety standards are met. The oil industry will also be expected to give further survival training given to offshore workers.
The CAA’s chairwoman, Dame Deirdre Hutton, said: “The safety of those who rely on offshore helicopter flights is our absolute priority. The steps we are announcing today will result in significant improvements in safety for those flying to and from offshore sites in the UK and potentially worldwide.
“We expect helicopter operators, the oil and gas industry and EASA to move forward with recommendations to them as soon as possible. For our part, the CAA is already taking forward actions directly under our control. We will monitor and report regularly on progress, so that people can have confidence that these important changes are being implemented as quickly as possible.”
Before last August’s accident, helicopters had ditched in the North Sea on four other occasions in three years. In the worst incident, 16 people died in April 2009 when a Super Puma plunged into the sea off Aberdeenshire after its gearbox failed.
Mary Creagh MP, the shadow transport secretary, said the report was “a wake-up call” to the oil and gas industry about the need to improve the safety culture of its helicopter operations in the North Sea.
Jim McAuslan, general secretary of the pilots union Balpa, said: “The hundreds of dedicated helicopter pilots flying in support of Britain’s oil and gas industry and ferrying people to offshore rigs welcome these proposals. The CAA has recognised that independently setting and protecting decent helicopter flight safety standards in the North Sea is more effective than a ‘light touch’ approach.
“Pilots particularly welcome the ban on flying in adverse conditions and the recommendations on how the chances of surviving an incident can be improved.”