Short-term disruptions have hit the North Sea today (10 January) following an alert service bulletin from helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky requiring inspection for all S-92 aircraft, globally.
The bulletin follows an incident on 28 December, in which a helicopter lost control of its tail rotor, causing it to spin, with reports of gauges in the West Franklin platform helideck, on which it landed.
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Image of the S-92, from Sikorsky. |
"Safety is our top priority, and Sikorsky is working closely with our customers and investigative authorities to determine the root cause of the loss of tail rotor authority in the 28 December installation landing,” Sikorsky said in a statement.
Although the investigation into the 28 December incident has not been completed, Sikorsky released an alert service bulletin on 10 January to define additional interim inspection requirements for the S-92 tail rotor pitch change shaft. Sikorsky said that the procedures include an off-aircraft check of the PCS bearing.
“That check must be done before next flight with some leeway for getting back to base,” the company said. “We will further communicate findings if the investigation reveals any safety or airworthiness issues that affect the S-92 helicopter fleet."
Oil & Gas UK said the Sikorsky’s inspection move was the expected response from a helicopter manufacturer when a potential problem has been identified.
“It is a precautionary measure to ensure the continued safe transportation of the workforce. There will be some short-term disruption to operations while these checks are carried out but every possible step will be taken to minimize that,” Mick Borwell, Oil & Gas UK health, safety and environment director said. “We will continue to monitor events. We support any steps being taken to further ensure the safe travel of the UK offshore workforce.”
North Sea operators switched to using S-92s after the Super Puma helicopter fleet, manufactured by Airbus, was grounded following a crash in Norway in which 13 people died. An investigation into the cause is ongoing.
Offshore Helicopter Safety Leadership Group (OHSLG), made up of helicopter operators, unions, Oil & Gas UK, Step Change in Safety, and the Civil Aviation Authority, said that Sikorsky’s precautionary one-time inspection is not a grounding, but simply and extra step to current inspections.
“This precautionary inspection is not a grounding, and will allow helicopter operators to carry out the request, which is additional to current routine inspections. The Sikorsky ASB is mandatory and so will be complied with by helicopter operators worldwide, and requires operators to undertake a one-off inspections of the tail rotor and bearing assemblies before the next flight, and a specific check of Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) data for each aircraft,” OHSLG said.
According to OHSLG, HUMS will detect early indications of any sign of failure. The operators will have completed the checks on all the aircraft by midday tomorrow (11 January). It is expected that during the next 24 hours there will be a phased return of aircraft following full return to service testing.
Les Linklater, executive director of Step Change in Safety, and head of OHSLG, said that helicopter operators are working to assess the impact of this requirement, while investigating all opportunities to limit the effects on the flying program.
“Currently the duration of the inspections is expected to take up to 11 man hours, which means this will cause some short-term delays,” Linklater said. “We are in close communication with trades unions, helicopter operators and the Civil Aviation Authority. Furthermore, the Offshore Helicopter Safety Leadership group has convened a call to discuss what is being done to maintain safe flight operations and limit the operational impact and inconvenience this has caused, and will provide an update when it is available.”
Although no injuries were reported in the 28 December incident, the S-92 helicopter involved, left gouge marks on a helideck while landing at a Total-operated North Sea platform.
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