Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 1 April 2009 |
Summary | Main rotor gearbox failure |
Site | 11 nmi (20 km) northeast of Peterhead, Scotland 57°33′14″N 0°00′00″E / 57.554°N -0.000°E |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma |
Operator | Bond Offshore Helicopters |
Registration | G-REDL |
Flight origin | Aberdeen Airport |
Last stopover | Miller oilfield |
Destination | Aberdeen Airport |
Passengers | 14 |
Crew | 2 |
Fatalities | 16[1] |
Survivors | 0 |
Just before 2:00 pm on 1 April 2009, Bond Offshore Helicopters Flight 85N crashed 11 nautical miles (20 km) north-east of Peterhead, Scotland in the North Sea while returning from a BP oil platform in the Miller oilfield, 240 km (150 mi) north-east of Peterhead.[2] The crash killed all sixteen people aboard.[3][4][5][6] The flight was operated using a Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma Mk 2 belonging to Bond Offshore Helicopters. The cause of the crash was main rotor separation following a catastrophic gearbox failure.
The helicopter was flown by Captain Paul Burnham and co-pilot Richard Menzies, both working for Bond Offshore Helicopters.[7] Most of the victims were employees of KCA Deutag Drilling.
Bond also operated a very similar Eurocopter EC225 LP helicopter which ditched in the North Sea on 18 February 2009, in which all 18 aboard were rescued.[3][8]
The most serious North Sea helicopter accident was the 1986 British International Helicopters Chinook crash, when a Boeing 234 Chinook crashed, killing 45 people.[9][10]
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