The safety record of helicopters ferrying workers out to North Sea platforms is to come under scrutiny at a major industry conference this week.
Trade body Oil and Gas UK’s seventh annual aviation seminar comes on the back of last month’s ditching of a Bond Super Puma helicopter in waters off Aberdeen.
The aircraft was carrying 14 passengers and crew when it was forced to ditch 25 miles out to sea.
All on board were rescued, but the accident served as a reminder to the industry of the dangers of helicopter flight in the North Sea environment following the deaths of 16 passengers and crew during a crash in April 2009.
Wednesday’s seminar at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre is sponsored by Bond Offshore Helicopters the company which has been at the centre of the helicopter dramas and Maersk Oil.
Les Linklater of industry body Step Change in Safety will update the conference on the work of the Helicopter Safety Steering Group, and how the sector is learning from previous incidents and looking to raise standards in future with the introduction of improved helideck lighting and upgraded systems for predicting potential faults and component degradation.
The conference will also hear from Total’s David Hainsworth on how helideck operations were conducted during the recent gas leak on the Elgin platform in the North Sea.
Robert Paterson, Oil & Gas UK’s health and safety director, said safety has to be paramount in all aspects of North Sea operations.
He said: ”Offshore helicopter safety is an oil and gas industry priority and very much at the forefront of all our minds: this is especially true for those who travel to work by helicopter.
”Improving the safety of helicopter operations is an ongoing process. The purpose of the aviation seminar is to bring the oil and gas and aviation communities together to review recent safety achievements, look ahead to what’s around the corner, and identify things we in the UK can learn from incidents around the world.”
Photo RAF