Seems that the North Sea helicopter pilot community has been fairly well briefed on the initial findings of the investigation of the loss of the Bond Helicopters EC225 two weeks ago. As I'm sure most of them suspected, it doesn't look as if there was anything wrong with the aircraft.
Obviously that's going to put the crew in a deeply unenviable position,
but they're going to get plenty of sympathy. We're still waiting to
hear from the AAIB, but the prospects must be good for another long,
hard look at North Sea operational procedures. This type of flying is
inherently extremely challenging of course. Nevertheless, the feeling
has to be that it can and should be made safer still.
There is a typically high-quality debate about this here in the PPrune Rotorheads section - arguably the most sophisticated pilots forum on the internet???
In my military days I had the opportunity to sit in the co-pilot's seat of a Westland Wasp performing 'darkened ship' (I think it was called) landings on a Royal Navy frigate. Basically a less-than-thrillingly powered and equipped helicopter landing on a black moving shape in a black sea. One of a handful of occasions when I've been at least a bit scared in an aeroplane. (Also been utterly horrified - but that was self-inflicted.)
As we groped down towards HMS Bacchante I tried to see anything at all. "Can you see it now Kieran?" the captain kept asking. "Now???" Err, no, I responded, scanning the darkness for the ship. And then a sharp intake of breath as it suddenly dawned on me that I was looking at the superstructure from a few tens of metres away. Very, very serious flying.
There is a typically high-quality debate about this here in the PPrune Rotorheads section - arguably the most sophisticated pilots forum on the internet???
In my military days I had the opportunity to sit in the co-pilot's seat of a Westland Wasp performing 'darkened ship' (I think it was called) landings on a Royal Navy frigate. Basically a less-than-thrillingly powered and equipped helicopter landing on a black moving shape in a black sea. One of a handful of occasions when I've been at least a bit scared in an aeroplane. (Also been utterly horrified - but that was self-inflicted.)
As we groped down towards HMS Bacchante I tried to see anything at all. "Can you see it now Kieran?" the captain kept asking. "Now???" Err, no, I responded, scanning the darkness for the ship. And then a sharp intake of breath as it suddenly dawned on me that I was looking at the superstructure from a few tens of metres away. Very, very serious flying.
on October 5, 2010 1:53 PM | Reply
The Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma Mk II+ is a long-range passenger transport helicopter developed by Eurocopter as the next generation in the civilian Super Puma family. It is a twin-engined aircraft and can carry up to 24 passengers along with 2 crew and a cabin attendant, dependent on customer configuration. The helicopter is marketed for offshore support and VIP passenger transport duties, as well as public service missions.