Bond retires flight number assigned to Super Puma in offshore accident
Airport alert after warning light comes on in helicopter heading out over North Sea
Published:
Bond Offshore Helicopters has confirmed that it has retired the flight number given to the aircraft involved in one of the oil industry’s worst disasters earlier this year.
Two pilots and 14 oil workers died on April 1 after a “catastrophic” gearbox failure sent Flight 85N crashing into the sea 14 miles from Peterhead.
The Super Puma crash prompted a helicopter safety review and the Department for Transport’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch is still trying to piece together exactly what happened to the aircraft as it made its way to BP’s Miller platform.
Bond flights are always given a number between 80 and 89, followed by a letter of the alphabet. However, following this year’s accident, the firm will never again use 85N.
A Bond spokesman said: “I can confirm that the flight number 85N is no longer used. It has not been in use since we resumed our flights with BP.”
The accident sent shockwaves throughout the industry and cast a huge shadow over the north-east.
The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and First Minister Alex Salmond led 1,000 mourners at a memorial service at the Kirk of St Nicholas in Union Street, Aberdeen, two weeks later, while a 2,000-strong crowd watched on screens outside.
A special safety panel has since been set up to examine helicopter safety.
There was another helicopter safety alert yesterday after a Bristows Super Puma had to make an emergency landing near Peterhead following a gearbox scare.
A spokeswoman for the company said: “A Bristows helicopter made a precautionary landing at Longside Airfield, Peterhead, this morning to investigate a cockpit warning light.
“The EC225 aircraft, with 17 passengers and two crew on board, was en route from Aberdeen to a North Sea installation and landed without incident at about 9.20am.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said they had been told a gearbox temperature warning light had come on in the cockpit.
A Grampian Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said: “We were informed of a full emergency at Aberdeen Airport after a pilot signalled an emergency on board the aircraft.
“We sent a team to the airport but were then informed the helicopter would be landing at Longside Airfield and were able to send a crew to the airfield in time for it landing. We were stood down shortly after.”
An inspection yesterday afternoon revealed a faulty sensor had caused the alert and the aircraft was flown back to Aberdeen. The passengers were bussed back to Aberdeen and put on another flight.
Readers' Comments