We must be the unluckiest helicopter firm in the North Sea

Describing how he wants to see his business performing this time next year, Malcolm Paine taps the table and murmurs “touch wood”.

It’s not the kind of gesture you normally get from a managing director, but then luck hasn’t been on his company’s side recently.

The former pilot took on the top job at Bond Offshore Helicopters at the end of May, just weeks after one of its aircraft ditched in the North Sea.

It was the second high-profile emergency involving a Bond Super Puma in three years to be caused by mechanical failures outwith the firm’s control.

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