1999 Bristow Sikorsky S-76A crash

A commercial Sikorsky S-76A helicopter operated by Norwich-based Bristow Helicopters crashed in the evening of 16 July 2002 in southern North Sea while it was taking workers from Norwich Airport to a gas drilling rig. The twenty-two year old helicopter went down when it was preparing to land on a gas platform 28 miles off Cromer and the helideck crew on the gas platform witnessed the event. The helicopter dove steeply into the sea from a height of about 300 feet and the accident caused the death of all those on board (two crew members and nine Shell workers as passengers). The body of the eleventh man has never been recovered.

Cause

Flight recorder information revealed that the crew were not aware of any significant abnormality until the last few minutes of the flight, when they discussed an increase in vibration. The non-handling pilot carried out a routine 'rotor track and balance' procedure, but the increase in vibration did not cause the crew any immediate concern.

Wreckage analysis showed that, while three of the main rotor blades exhibited only superficial damage, the fourth was fractured at a position approximately 76.75 inches from the blade root. The casing for the main rotor gearbox was also fractured. Neither the gearbox nor the rotor head could be recovered. This rotor blade, manufactured in March 1981, was struck by lightning in 1999, when it was repaired by the manufacturer and returned to service. After the accident, the AAIB and the helicopter's manufacturer, Stratford, Connecticut-based Sikorsky Aircraft, reached the opinion that the electrical energy imparted by the lightning strike in 1999 exploited an anomaly that was built into the blade at manufacture and damaged the spar. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch report stated that the manufacturers should have noticed the error, unless it was permitted by concession.

Aftermath

Shell suspended North Sea helicopter flights by the operator for six weeks after the accident until 3 September. [cite web|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2232812.stm Article:|title=Rig flights resume after fatal crash |publisher=BBC News|date=2002-09-03|language=English] .

The inquest into the deaths opened on 31 October at the Great Yarmouth Coroner's Court and the jury returned a verdict of Accidental Death on 2 November 2005 on the basis of an AAIB report finalised during that year.

Earlier, in late 2003, the company Bristow had agreed to a compensation deal for five children, whose fathers were killed in the crash [cite web|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/3224681.stm Article:|title=Rig flight crash 'compensation'|publisher=BBC News|date=2003-10-29|language=English] .

The names of the deceased are engraved on a glass porch in St Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth.

In 2007, a Norwich coroner's officer launched legal action over claims he suffered stress following the tragedy, claiming compensation, stating he received insufficient support at the time of the incident and in its aftermath [cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/6951965.stm Article: |title=Police sued over dead body stress |publisher=BBC News|date=2007-08-17|language=English] . A Norfolk police spokesman confirmed the traumatic nature of the 2002 incident for all those involved, the more so since it had occurred on the eve of a one-day general strike of council's workers in the UK and two days before a royal visit to Norwich.

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References

ee also

* Air safety
* Accidents and incidents in aviation
* 1983 British Airways Sikorsky S-61 crash