UK

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    Compensation Begins

    Without their admission of fault, compensation has begun by Bond Aviation Group whose helicopter crashed the Clutha pub in Glasgow and injured dozens and killed ten.

    A statement by Bond Aviation Group said that “Most claims should be capable of being settled without delay…However, for complex claims which may take longer to resolve, and where appropriate, we will make interim payments without the need for each party to apply to the court.”

    After the accident, Eurocopter issued a Safety Information Notice.

    17-Dec-2013

    Eurocopter has issued a Safety Information Notice (SIN) to operators of the EC135 across the world regarding the issue involving the fuel indication and alert system discovered by Bond during normal service operations on Wednesday 11th, which we immediately reported to Eurocopter and the appropriate authorities. The SIN states: “Following this incident, fuel system functionality tests performed by Bond Air Services and two other EC135 operators in Europe have revealed possible similar supply-tank fuel gauging errors on some aircraft.”

    As soon as we discovered this issue, in line with our commitment to the highest standards of safety, we took the prudent decision to temporarily suspend service operations whilst we conducted checks on our fleet of EC135s. The results of these tests were subsequently validated by Eurocopter, and appropriate repairs made before returning the aircraft to service. We also took the decision to increase safety barriers by mandating that all our EC135s should maintain a minimum of 90kg of fuel onboard at all times. All our EC135 aircraft are now fully operational and are available for missions with our air ambulance and police customers.

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    Life Jacket with AirPocket Can Save Lives


    The Lifejacket Airpocket Plus (LAP) combined lifejacket and hybrid rebreather is a lifesaver. Imagine a life jacket that lets you breathe air. Genius, right? I’ve seen too many helicopter crashes to and from oil rigs. Some of those fatalities should be preventable. This hybrid life jacket would really come in handy to have on a Super Puma helicopter plunging into the North Sea, or the Gulf of Mexico. I hope I’m never in that situation, but if I am, you can bet I’ll be wearing one, and I’ll have read the directions.

    A couple of lives may not have been saved with it simply because of directions.

    A rebreather is an apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of exhaled breath to permit the recycling of available oxygen. The hybrid unit is a little something extra.

    The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) believes the instructions on how to use this device need to include the information that the rebreather has an air supply; so if someone is in the middle of drowning, they don’t have to be going down with a last breath of air. The rebreather already has some. It’s not like a scuba diving tank with loads of air, but hey, it’s a way to breathe if you’re submerged in a helicopter and don’t have gills. What if all you need is just enough air to keep you alive to get the seatbelt off, or to swim out of an opening? That’s some precious air, all right.

    So kudos to the revised pre-flight briefing material. Even if it is a knee-jerk reaction after another tragic helicopter crash, good idea AAIB.

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    Puma Gearbox Metal Shavings Conflict

    The gearbox is a center of controversy in the investigation of the accident where the Bond Super Puma crashed off Peterhead, killing 16 men including two crew: Capt Paul Burnham, 31, of Methlick, Aberdeenshire, and co-pilot Richard Menzies, 24, of Droitwich Spa, who worked for Bond Offshore Helicopters, KCA Deutag employees Brian Barkley, 30, of Aberdeen; Vernon Elrick, 41, of Aberdeen; Leslie Taylor, 41, of Kintore, Aberdeenshire; Nairn Ferrier, 40, of Dundee; Gareth Hughes, 53, of Angus; David Rae, 63, of Dumfries; Raymond Doyle, 57, of Cumbernauld; James John Edwards, 33, of Liverpool; Nolan Goble, 34, of Norwich, and Mihails Zuravskis, 39, of Latvia; and non employees James Costello, 24, of Aberdeen, who was contracted to Production Services Network (PSN); Alex Dallas, 62, of Aberdeen, who worked for Sparrows Offshore Services; Warren Mitchell, 38, of Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, who worked for Weatherford UK; and Stuart Wood, 27, of Aberdeen, who worked for Expro North Sea Ltd.

    The inquiry blames the crash on gearbox failure, but for Bond and French company Eurocopter the question remains exactly where metal particles (evidence!) were found in the gearbox.

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    USAF Helicopter Crash in the UK

    The USAF Pavehawk Sikorsky HH-60G that crashed on January 7 2013 at about 19:00 GMT on a training flight in Marshland near Cley-Next-The-Sea, Norfolk in the UK during training exercises transporting munitions, killed the crew of four aboard. The helicopter impacted in a nature reserve.

    A second helicopter flew in as a rescue unit, but there were no survivors. Local witnesses heard and saw the helicopter flying low. It was initially believed the helicopter had ditched in the North Sea. No one on the ground was injured.

    The names of the victims have been released: Capt Christopher S. Stover, Capt Sean M. Ruane, Technical Sergeant Dale E. Mathews and Staff Sergeant Afton M. Ponce. The commander of their unit said that Captains Stover and Ruane were pilots, while Tech. Sgt. Mathews and SSgt Ponce were acting as special mission aviators and “The Liberty Wing feels as though it has lost members of its family, and we stand by to support one another and these airmen’s families during this difficult time.”

    An investigation is underway.

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    Eurocopter Fuel Gauge Safety Alert

    No one is saying that the recently discovered Eurocoptor problem with the low fuel level warning system had anything to do with Clutha ——leased police Eurocopter crashed thru the roof of the Clutha pub in Glasgow killing three crew members and seven people inside the pub——but it is out there on the table and one of those things that make you go hmmm. Connection or not, the Clutha accident is causing Eurocopter to take a closer look at their helicopters.

    The preliminary report on Clutha is not out yet, but there are reports that the helicopter did not run out of fuel.

    The Eurocopter fuel indicator problem is that the supply-tank fuel gauge can overestimate how much fuel is in the tank. Apparently the gauge can skip amber and go straight to red (low fuel.)

    Eurocopter is sending out safety notices about the issue..

    In the Clutha crash, the number of fatalities has risen to ten.

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    Clutha Helicopter Crash


    The preliminary investigation of the Clutha helicopter crash revealed …

    • 95 liters left in the police helicopter
    • no evidence of engine failure
    • no evidence of gearbox failure
    • all significant components were present
    • all rotor grades were attached at the time of the crash
    • neither main blades nor tail blades were rotating

    Other than ruling out what is not the cause, investigators may be no closer to determining the reason the helicopter fell out of the air. The report says there was “no evidence of major mechanical disruption of either engine” of the Eurocopter EC135 as it returned from a police operation in Dalkeith, Midlothian, on the night of the crash.

    There were no flight recorders, but there is radar data and radio communications. The pilot had 5,500 hours, 646 in type.

    The wreckage is at AAIB’s headquarters, and the investigation continues.

    A fund has been opened for the victims. Donations can be made to the fund by calling 0141 287 7878 and paying by debit or credit card. Cash or cheques can be handed in to the council’s service desk at 45 John Street, Glasgow G1 1JE and bank payments can be made to Clutha Appeal Fund, sort code 83-44-00, account 10804129.

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    Glasgow Helicopter Crash Update

    The “Bond Air Services Ltd. for Police Scotland” Eurocopter EC135 T2+ registration #G-SPAO with three aboard crashed in the Clutha Pub, Stockwell Street, Glasgow. Three of the victims were aboard, six on the ground.

    Two witnesses Billy and Michael Byrne were inside the Clutha Vaults pub when the police helicopter crashed into it. The noise of the impact was indescribable, then…

    There was a sort of silence.The whole ceiling at the left hand side of the bar, where it had been, had collapsed in on itself and the gantry of the bar also collapsed. There was an initial bout of screaming. There was a huge ball of dust. I went and opened the doors. Whilst I was holding the door I could see my brother…

    Then, after finding each other, the two assisted where they could.

    I think that person was conscious. He was moaning so he was conscious. There was a second person under him and that person, to me, didn’t look conscious — he was face-down. When we got out I spent time with a chap who was injured. He had a head injury. We put him in an ambulance and hopefully he is fine. We were fine. We were just lucky.

    Others described the helicopter as tumbling at a strange angle, or that it dropped like a stone. Inside, the patrons of the bar heard a large bang before the lights went out. Others describe a whoosh, smoke, and eerie silence as the plane fell. The roof fell in, and dust floated in, choking everyone.

    First responders were passers by. Some survivors walked away. The numbers of the casualties were initially 6 deceased, 32 hospitalized. The victims totaled nine, at last release. Two officers and a civilian pilot were aboard. Search and rescue dogs assisted in the search and rescue operation. Air accident investigation investigators, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and rescue personnel were on the scene.

    The helicopter involved passed a safety check last year. The helicopter does not have a flight data recorder but some of the systems may have recoverable data.

    Victims Named

    • Robert Jenkins, 61
    • Mark O’Prey, 44
    • Colin Gibson, 33
    • John McGarrigle, 57
    • Samuel McGhee, 56
    • Gary Arthur, 48
    • helicopter pilot David Traill, 51
    • PC Kirsty Nelis, 36
    • PC Tony Collins, 43

    See News Videos Below

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    About Close Calls

    After making note of the Oct 31 near miss in Oslo, I remembered this 100 foot close call of two Boeing 747’s over Scotland. This occurred in late June, when a Lufthansa pilot was climbing, and a British Airways flight were 24.3nm apart on converging courses. A STCA (Short Germ Conflict Alert)

    The Oslo near miss could have been prevented if the repetition protocol have been observed.

    The Scotland near miss had two planes
    (DLH418 Lufthansa Boeing 747-830, D-ABYC Frankfurt (FRA) – Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD))

    and

    (BAW87 British Airways Boeing 747-436, G-BNLM London-Heathrow (LHR) – Vancouver (YVR))

    on a collision course 100 feet Vertical/3.9 nm Horizontal and 1100 feet Vertical/2.8nm from impact. The study of the event concluded that actions of both the pilots and the controller contributed but that the pilots avoiding ATC instructions caused the proximity issue.

    The added pressure of reporting incidents such as these should help pilots and air traffic control to avoid similar events in the future. It will do so ONLY if adequate attention is paid to the mistakes, if alternative/better responses are deter mend, if the resulting studies are closely attended, and if protocol is adjusted to reduce the possibility of such problems re-occurring. On some level, the protocol worked, because these incidents were not collisions. However, they were closer than they should be. All I can say about this event is that it is a good thing that mistakes are reported.

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    Humberside Mayday

    When his pilot became incapacitated, John Wildey asked for help and was talked thorough landing by flight instructor Roy Murray, chief instructor of the Frank Morgan School of Flying.

    The unconscious pilot later died. Wildey was the only other person aboard.

    After three go-arounds, John Wildey made it safely in the Cessna F172M to the Humberside Airport runway on the fourth try with instruction on the radio and an RAF helicopter escort. Wildey landed the Cessna 172 at Humberside airport near Grimsby, north Lincolnshire on the evening of Oct 8, 2013 without lights. Emergency services were on standby throughout the hard landing.

    Registration:G-BCYR
    Manufacturer:REIMS AVIATION SA
    Type:CESSNA F172M
    Serial No.:1288
    Registered Owner(s):GRAHAM FOX
    THORPE CROFT
    LONDONDERRY
    NORTHALLERTON
    DL7 9NE

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    Super King Runway Excursion in Aberdeen

    A Scottish Ambulance Service Beechcraft B200 Super King Air (flown by Gama Aviation) en route from Sumburgh to Aberdeen developed steering problems on landing and skidded off the runway on landing at Aberdeen. The plane was mired in soft ground, and resulted in suspended traffic, and diversions to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

    The patient aboard the ambulance has been hospitalized.

    The patient, an escort, a paramedic and two crew were aboard. No one was injured in the landing.

    Scottish Fire and Rescue Services responded to the scene.

    An investigation is underway.

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    Sleeping Pilots

    Two pilots fell asleep while flying an Airbus A330, and then tattled on themselves, blaming 5 hours sleep the night before.

    Pilots are allowed naps but not at the same time. The British airline has not been identified, nor have the pilots’ names been released.

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    Flight diverts to Stansted

    A Sri Lankan Airlines plane en route from Colombo to Heathrow diverted to Stansted to make an emergency landing after two passengers endangered the plane. One of the passengers said “something” was in the luggage hold.

    The 267 passengers and crew were uninjured. The two passengers were taken into custody. One is undergoing medical treatment in a hospital and one is at Harlow Police station.

    The investigation is being handled as a criminal matter.

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    Drunken Pilot Detained in Leeds

    A pilot caught drunk in the cockpit of a Pakistan International Airways Airbus is in custody, and bound to appear in court in October over the breech of trust. PIA suspended the 20 year pilot.

    The UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “A pilot attempting to fly while under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs is a major threat to flight safety.”

    Irfan Faiz was four times over the legal limit when he was taken into custody, and charged with “breaching the trust of the public.”

    He was arrested as he was carrying out pre-flight checks. Officers had him take a breath test at ten pm just prior to his scheduled ten pm. flight of an Airbus 310 from Leeds to Islamabad. 177 passengers were put up at hotels when the pilot was removed.

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    Helicopter News

    Just crossing the transom now, there were alerts today of a number of helicopter events:

    • The fleet of North Sea Super Pumas were reinstated after the Sumburgh crash that killed 4 oil workers:
      but the L2 version of the helicopter – the Super Puma model involved in Friday’s crash – will only be allowed to fly on the what has been described as “non passenger revenue operations”

    • 1 hurt in helicopter crash in Tonto National Forest when a helicopter leased by APS made a hard landing with six people aboard

    See Video below

    • Helicopter crashes for science at NASA Langley

    See Video below

    • The Canadian NTSB indicated that the Robinson Helicopter R44 II in July 2012 in Carcross, Yukon occurred because of the pilot’s failure to check winds affecting the landing area. On July 10, 2012, an R44 II operated by Horizon Helicopters Ltd. transported 2 Yukon Government surveyors to bear-bait sites in the Carcross area. The helicopter departed Carcross at 3 p.m. followed the north shore of Tagish Lake and approached the wildlife survey site from the west. At approximately 3:13 p.m., the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre received an emergency locator transmitter signal from the aircraft. The wreckage was found approximately 5 nautical miles east of Carcross on Nares Mountain. The pilot was fatally injured, one passenger was seriously injured, and another received minor injuries.
  • On Oahu, a civilian pilot and a passenger crashed in a pineapple field a mile south of Wheeler Army Airfield. Both were hospitalized. The privately owned AC 8KCAB Decathlon experienced a loss of power. The accident was originally listed as occurring in a helicopter, but it is a single engine fixed wing plane registered to J3 ENGINEERING.
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    Eurocopter Ditches, with Four Fatalities


    A CHC operated Eurocopter AS 332L2 Super Puma Mk2 with 18 aboard had taken off from the Borgsten Dolphin rig en route to Sumburgh Airport and suffered a “catastrophic loss of power” before it ditched 2 nm W off Sumburgh, Shetland Islands, Scotland.

    Fourteen survivors were recovered. Four fatalities were reported: Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland, Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin, Gary McCrossan, 59, from Inverness, and George Allison, 57, from Winchester. Three of the four bodies have been recovered.

    The survivors were hospitalized at Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick. Nine were detained at the hospital for exposure.

    Rescue services included a ferry, a cargo ship, lifeboat crews from Lerwick and Aith, coastguard helicopters, RAF Lossiemouth and two Bond rescue helicopters.

    CHC works for Total transporting rig workers.

    The cause of the crash has not been determined. Pumas have been grounded due to safety concerns.

    Videos Below

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    United Airlines Emergency Landing

    United Airlines flight UA131 en route from Heathrow to Washington made an emergency landing in Dublin.

    According to pilots, the Boeing 757-200 developed possible engine trouble. There was also smoke in the cockpit.

    Dublin Airport Fire and Rescue Service, dozens of firefighters and Dublin Airport Police responded to the scene.

    The flight departed from Heathrow at 1:05pm. None of the 147 passengers or crew of nine were injured.

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    Emergency Landing in Shannon

    A Delta Boeing 767 diverted to Shannon and made an emergency landing on August 5, 2013 with emergency services on standby.

    220 passengers and crew were aboard when the right engine developed problems and was shut down.

    Pilots dumped fuel thirty minutes into the flight and made a safe landing in Shannon.

    The flight was en route from Italy to Atlanta.

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    Lightning Up Heavy London City Airport Flight

    In hot weather, planes may take a longer run to get off the ground, so when a plane is heavy, that weight has to be amended.

    Thus London City Airport has been reducing the weight of their flights because of their 4,900 foot runway.

    On Sunday, the fact that fifteen passengers were pulled from a Gatwick-Geneva flight made the news. The flight was overweight by a ton. According to Swiss Airways, a ground handler reported “It’s happening every day from London City because in bad weather the pilots need a lot of fuel, and can’t take off from City with a lot of fuel and a full plane of passengers”

    Simultaneously, Geneva Airport was facing heavy thunderstorms.

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    Emergency landing At Sumburgh, Scotland


    Photographer Okke Behm
    On July 31, 2013, an Eastern Airways Saab 2000 was en route when pilots observed a warning light on the flight panel. The flight had to divert to Sumburgh Airport in Shetland, Scotland. Thirty oil workers were aboard. THere were thirty-two passengers and three crew.

    Shetland’s air, sea and land rescue services responded to the scene, including auxiliary coastguard teams from Lerwick, Noness and Sumburgh. Emergency services were on standby on landing.

    Pilots sent a 5.10pm. Mayday and made a safe landing.

    None of the 35 aboard suffered injury. The fault was in the warning system.

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    Rans Crash in Leicestershire

    On July 14, 2013, a privately owned Rans S-6 en route from an airfield near Tywcross Zoo to Stoke Golding airfield crashed in Fenn Lane, Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire with two aboard.

    The Rans plane crashed in a field in Leicestershire. Witnesses heard a bang from the aircraft, the engine quit. The plane glided along, banked right and left, then crashed.

    The plane was located at Fenny Drayton at about 18:45 BST on Sunday. The man and woman aboard were confirmed dead at the scene, found by emergency responders.

    The Air Accident Investigations Branch is investigating.

    The fatalities were informally identified as Bob and Olive.

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    Thomson Airways Boeing Diverts to Heathrow

    A Thomson Airways Boeing 787-800 en route from Manchester to Orlando on July 12 was enroute when technical problems–an electronic issue– developed.

    Pilots diverted back to Manchester, circling Wales where they dumped fuel prior to securing a safe landing with emergency services on standby. Passengers were provided an alternative flight. A dedicated team of engineers inspected # G-TUIC.

    The problem was reported to be a flushing issue.

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    Ethiopian Airlines Fire at Heathrow


    photographer Josh May

    An Ethiopian Airlines’ Queen of Sheba, a Boeing 787 #ET-AOP which had been sitting empty for eight hours caught fire and shut down Heathrow Airport for an hour Friday. The fire seems to have started in the upper fuselage, far from the 787’s lithium-ion batteries. A battery fire would have been “contained by the new casing and…smoke would have been vented outside of the airplane.” Nearly a dozen fire trucks responded to the scene. The plane was parked on the apron taxiway E at Stand 592 next to a fire station.

    #ET-AOP had arrived from Addis Ababa as flight ET700 at 06:30a.m. Departure was scheduled as ET701 to Addis Ababa at 21:10.

    In photos, damage appears on the outside top of the upper fuselage near the vertical stabilizer, on the left side of the top of the airplane just in front of the tail. The fire was not caused by lithium-ion batteries, which are in in the cargo-bay.

    Potential causes of the fire:

    • a gadget such as the coffeemaker
    • a manufacturing or installation defect in his jet;
    • a different systemic defect in the 787 model

    NTSB Sends Investigator to Participate in Investigation of London Boeing 787 Dreamliner Fire

    The National Transportation Safety Board has sent an investigator to assist in the investigation of a fire that occurred yesterday aboard a parked Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Heathrow Airport, London, England.
    NTSB Senior Air Safety Investigator Lorenda Ward has been appointed as the traveling U.S. accredited representative. Ms. Ward will be accompanied by NTSB airplane systems investigators and representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing.
    The investigation is being conducted by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the United Kingdom, which will release all information.

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    Dominican Republic Flight Cancelled with a Bang

    On a takeoff run, an Airbus 330 en route from Manchester to the Dominican Republic suffered an engine explosion.

    The pilot aborted the takeoff. None of the 325 passengers aboard the Thomas Cook A330 were injured.

    Passengers disembarked and the plane was inspected and for half an hour, the runway was closed. Emergency services were deployed.

    How passengers were accommodated was not released.

    See Video Below

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    Thomson Airways Boeing Grounded after Bird Strike

    A Thomson Airways Boeing 787-8 sustained a bird strike on a Manchester—Cardiff—Shannon flight on the Cardiff-Shannon leg.

    On taking off from Cardiff, the bird strike occurred. The pilot reported that all systems appeared operational. Pilots continued to Shannon and made a safe landing with emergency services on standby.

    On the ground, the flight did not need to be towed but continued under its own power.

    Maintenance did confirm evidence of damage in the jet’s right side engine. The training flight was cancelled and crews worked on the damaged engine.

    This is listed as a training flight of a recently delivered jet.