Jump to content
aberdeen-music

Helicopter down off Aberdeen


Recommended Posts

Last tuesday was the first time i had flown bond in a good few months and half an hour into the flight we had to turn around and head back to aberdeen because a 'fire warning' light had come on. Two hours later we had to jump on the same chopper, with them insisting it was 'fixed'. Fortunately i managed to sleep most of the way so didnt spent the whole time with my arse chewing the seat! Due home today, what's the chances of 2 in a week though, be a'rite eh?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

there was a bloke in a suit to 'answer any questions' we had when i got back on saturday. he insists the maintenance schedule is the same as bristows and scotia as it is dictated by Eurocopter the manufacturers. So apparently they just employ gibbons to service choppers at Bond......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the little i know Bristow dont have as many daily flights as Bond. Bond are doing something like 50,000 flights a year, on a small fleet of helicopters. No excuses for whats happened but i think again from the little i have been told that the helicopters are being overworked, not badly maintained. I can imagine new rules being brought in after this tho.

I see one of the guys on the copter was on his first flight back from the rig, hell of a first return trip!

Just thank god everyone is ok and the pilot should be given a medal for what he did!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought the flight hadn't reached the platform yet. I had a read of the air accident report, I thought it implied that they had left aberdeen and were only 34 miles from shore heading to the vessel.

The BBC has a link to the Air Accident Investigation report (http://www.aaib.gov.uk/publications/special_bulletins/s2_2012_ec225_lp_super_puma__g_redw.cfm'>Here) which is saying there was a 360 degree crack on the vertical shaft causing the lube oil pumps to pack in. Interesting to note, that before this incident they had noticed increased vibration levels during the previous flying hours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I work right next to Dyce airport, have done for 6 years now, right under the flightpath (outside in a pipeyard), and all I see is Bristow heli's coming and going, by comparison I see very few Bond flights.

That would definately put me off if it were my first trip offshore too. Thankfully no one was hurt. I fly model helicopters so understand how these machines operate, the skill of the pilot to bring the bird down safely on water is immense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fly neither real helicopters or model helicopters but reading this nearly ended me, the comparison between a model and the real thing just tickled me.

I regularly check that my designated pilot has an extensive background in fucking around with children's playthings.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a quote in the paper today claiming that the crack wouldn't have been picked up during routine maintenance. That's pretty worrying.

I think bond and bristows probably have a similar amount of daily flights however the size of their fleet might be different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a quote in the paper today claiming that the crack wouldn't have been picked up during routine maintenance. That's pretty worrying.

I think bond and bristows probably have a similar amount of daily flights however the size of their fleet might be different.

It probably wouldn't have been picked up in maintenance, but there are vibration probes around the shaft. They identified an increase in vibration - so I guess this is how they would have normally spotted it if it got more extreme?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest davetherave

Hats off to the pilot, and I'm glad everyone was ok.

Many years ago I went up in one of these...

G-EROL-007.jpg

The pilot was skimming the tops of the german woodland at silly speeds, scared me shitless, after that I decided I preferred aircraft with wings :eek:

One worrying thing about the new super Pumas that Bond (and others) use, is the fact they felt it necessary to fit a floatation device for water landings! Great idea though, as proven in this case!

For anyone interested in helicopters (or the vietnam war), this is a brilliant book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...