Marisa Garcia The UK CAA has issued a statement of a revised safety policy, with immediate effect, following the tragic crash of a helicopter outside of Bergen, Norway which killed 13 people.
The aircraft was returning to Bergen from the Gullfaks oil field. So far, eleven bodies have been recovered.
“Our thoughts are with those affected by the tragic accident in Norway,” the agency writes in its announcement.
“Following the accident the UK CAA has issued an instruction to stop any commercial passenger flights by UK operators flying the Airbus EC225LP helicopter. This mirrors action taken by the Norwegian CAA. The restriction does not apply to search and rescue flights.”
“The accident involved a Norwegian helicopter and will therefore be investigated by the Norwegian authorities. We will offer any assistance that we can,” states the UKCAA.
“We remain in close contact with all UK offshore helicopter operators to continue to assess the situation.”
The UKCAA safety directive can be found here.
The maintenance was presumably safe to delay, but it’d be a hard thing for victims’ families to hear.
Yes, it’s a difficult time and I can’t imagine their pain. I agree, though, it’s not uncommon to extend routine maintenance, within procedural guidelines.