The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) published a further “special bulletin” late last week in its investigation into the controlled ditching of a Bond-operated EC225 medium twin in May in the North Sea, confirming an earlier hint by Eurocopter that the emergency lubrication system gave the pilots a false failure warning.
Air Accidents Investigation Branch
June 28, 2012 - 2:30pm
Eurocopter has issued a statement that essentially clears operator Bond Offshore Helicopters in the ditching of an EC225 medium twin in the North Sea last month. “At this stage of the investigation, neither procedure failure nor human error on the operator’s side have been identified as a potential contributor to the cause of the incident,” the manufacturer said.
June 2, 2012 - 6:03am
A Eurocopter EC225 operated by Bond Offshore Helicopters with 14 on board ditched safely into the North Sea on May 10. At 12:13 p.m., G-REDW made “a controlled descent 24 nm offshore,” according to Bond. The investigation is focusing on the failures of two main-gearbox lubrication systems–the standard one and the back-up one.
May 22, 2012 - 3:59pm
The EASA issued an emergency Airworthiness Directive for Eurocopter EC225 medium-twin helicopters, requiring operators to closely monitor vibrations. The emergency action stems from a May 10 incident involving an EC225 operated by Bond Offshore Helicopters, which safely ditched, with 14 on board, into the North Sea. Under the AD, those EC225s not equipped with vibration health monitoring are restricted to day VFR for flights over water.
January 1, 2012 - 1:50am
The final report issued by the UK’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) after the 2009 crash of a Bond-operated Eurocopter AS332 L2 Super Puma in the North Sea is highlighting imperfections in the main gearbox’s design and, maybe more important, in monitoring systems and maintenance programs.
September 9, 2010 - 12:02pm
The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) yesterday released its incident report on the near midair of a German-registered Cessna Citation CJ1 and a Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 on the afternoon of July 27, 2009, after the business jet crew climbed too quickly after taking off from London City Airport.
August 2, 2010 - 9:54am
Cessna Citation 500, London, UK, March 8, 2008–A missing rivet head
August 2, 2010 - 9:35am
Cessna 525 Citation, Leeds, UK, June 7, 2010–A fire in the starboard engine caused the twinjet to abort its takeoff from Leeds-Bradford International Airport. The CJ1+ then overshot the runway and came to rest near the airport’s perimeter fence. The pilot and copilot were rescued by a local fire department. The crew suffered minor injuries, and the airplane was substantially damaged.
May 25, 2010 - 11:47am
A final report from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said a missing rivet head on a fuel shutoff valve that likely led to inadvertent engine shutdown was one of four “contributory factors” that resulted in the crash of a Cessna Citation 500 on March 8 some two miles northeast of London Biggin Hill Airport.
July 28, 2009 - 6:22am
The 27-minute search for the life-rafts occupied by the survivors of a Bond-operated Eurocopter EC 225 helicopter that ditched into the North Sea on February 18, less than 1,500 feet from an offshore oil platform, prompted the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) to recommend improved training in the use of personal locator beacons (PLBs) and emergency locator transmitters (ELTs).
