Helicopters

Finnish operator Copterline has resumed passenger flights following the crash of one of its two Sikorsky S-76C+ helicopters on 10 August off the coast of Tallin, Estonia, just 3min into its flight. All 12 passengers and two crew died.

At the end of last week there were no indications as to the cause. “It’s a total mystery,” said a Copterline source. Both flight data recorders have been recovered from the sea and are being sent to the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s accident investigation branch at Farnborough.

The Estonian ministry of economic affairs and communications says the flight from Tallin to Helsinki departed on schedule at 12:40 and communications were lost at 12:43. It could not confirm press reports that onlookers had heard a “loud noise” from the helicopter, which was at an altitude of around 1,000ft (300m). Initial inspection of the wreckage, which comprised two main sections, had not revealed any major structural failure, and both the main and tail rotors were reportedly intact. The two Turbomeca Arriel 1C turboshafts will be returned to France for further, detailed inspections, says the ministry.

The investigation is being carried out by an eight-member Estonian government and civil aviation authority commission with assistance from Finnish and US aviation experts.

According to Copterline, the S76C+, which had amassed 6,253 flying hours, was in “excellent technical condition, the crew exceptionally experienced and the weather conditions quite normal”.