RMT Call for Public Enquiry on 10th Anniversary of Tragedy

A decade on since Fourteen oil workers and two crew died when a Bond operated Super Puma crashed into waters off the coast of Peterhead on April 1, 2009 while returning from a North Sea installation.

RMT has repeated its call for a full public inquiry into North Sea helicopter safety - calling for lasting changes to regulatory standards to make the industry safer in the wake of a series of tragedies in recent years.

AAIB’s (Air Accidents Investigation Branch) probe into the crash found that the aircraft suffered a “catastrophic failure” of its main rotor gearbox, while a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) in 2014 found that the tragedy might have been avoided.

Eleven passengers and two crew members were killed when a Super Puma 225 aircraft came down near the city of Bergen, Norway, in April 2016, while in August 2013 a Super Puma L2 carrying oil rig workers ditched in the North Sea leaving four people dead.

The Super Puma model involved has since been taken out of service in the North Sea and the vast majority of flights are now conducted with Sikorsky S92 aircraft with some Airbus H175's now becoming more common also.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “On the 10th anniversary of the Super Puma disaster off Peterhead that cost 16 workers their lives our thoughts are with the families, colleagues and friends affected by the tragedy. Offshore workers remain angry that despite a five-year fatal accident inquiry process we still await justice, meaningful changes and the public inquiry into helicopter safety in the North Sea that has long been our central demand.

“On this grim anniversary for the industry the union pledges to step up the fight for North Sea helicopter safety, a public inquiry and lasting changes to regulatory standards that are the best way to restore offshore workers’ confidence.”

The crash in 2009 claimed the lives of captain and co-pilot Paul Burnham, 31, from Methlick in Aberdeenshire, and Richard Menzies, 24, from Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire.

Five men from Aberdeen died: Alex Dallas, 62, James Costello, 24, Stuart Wood, 27, Vernon Elrick, 41, and Brian Barkley, 30; and two workers were from Aberdeenshire: Leslie Taylor, 41, from Kintore, and Warren Mitchell, 38, from Oldmeldrum.

The other victims were Raymond Doyle, 57, from Cumbernauld; David Rae, 63, from Dumfries; Gareth Hughes, 53, from Angus; Nairn Ferrier, 40, from Dundee; James Edwards, 33, from Liverpool; Nolan Goble, 34, from Norwich; and Mihails Zuravskis, 39, from Latvia.

In a statement after the FAI Bond Offshore said it accepted that it had made mistakes and that lessons have been learned and continue to be learned.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We have given this matter careful and serious consideration, and the CAA has already undertaken a comprehensive review into this matter.