Shetland helicopter crash: Four people killed - Scotland on Sunday

THE helicopter disaster off Shetland that claimed the life of the first woman to be killed in Britain's oil and gas industry and three of her colleagues has plunged the sector into an unprecedented aviation crisis.

The confidence of a North Sea workforce already reeling from two ditchings last year involving Super Pumas has been left severely dented by the tragedy off Sumburgh Head on Friday in which the aircraft fell without warning from the skies as it approached Sumburgh Airport with 16 passengers and two crew on board.

All the evidence points to the helicopter suffering a catastrophic mechanical failure, which led to a total loss of power. The aircraft turned turtle in the stormy seas and the wreckage was driven on to the rocks below Fitful Head, near Sumburgh.

The CHC-operated aircraft involved in the incident is the same model, manufactured by Eurocopter, that was involved in a fatal crash in April 2009, when a Super Puma plummeted from the sky on a routine flight with two pilots and 14 passengers on board.

The 2009 disaster was caused by a failure of the main rotor gearbox, which led to the loss of the helicopter's main rotor blades. The cause of the latest disaster has yet to be established. However, it is clear that the two pilots and the 16 passengers on board had only seconds to escape.

The body of one of those who died in the tragedy was believed to be still trapped in the wreckage of the Super Puma last night. Those who died were Sarah Darnley, 45, a catering steward from Elgin, Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland, Gary McCrossan, 59, from Inverness, and George Allison, 57, from Winchester.

Darnley is the first woman to be killed in Britain's oil and gas industry since oil was first discovered in the North Sea almost 50 years ago.

Twelve of the survivors have been discharged after being taken to the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick for treatment and arrived safely in Aberdeen last night. The other two survivors were being kept in hospital in Shetland for treatment.

As a major Police Scotland and Air Accident Investigation Branch investigation began to establish the cause of the disaster, CHC Helicopters, the operator of the aircraft, announced that all Mark 2 Super Puma flights worldwide had been grounded. This affects 17 AS332L2 Super Pumas operated by the company, nine of which operate from Aberdeen heliport on offshore crew-change flights. Bond Helicopters has also grounded its Mark 2 fleet.

Tommy Campbell, offshore organiser of the Unite union, said the latest incident involving a Super Puma in the North Sea – the fifth since February 2009 – had shaken the confidence of the offshore workforce.

And he said the industry might have to consider grounding the entire North Sea helicopter fleet.

Campbell said: "Everything points to something catastrophic happening to this helicopter, which caused it drop into the water like a stone.

"There was no Mayday and no chance for those on board to do anything. It looks like a mechanical engineering failure of some proportion."

He added: "The industry should be taking the greatest precautions ever – and that may well mean they will have to ground all their helicopters until such time as they are satisfied that all their helicopters are fit for purpose – not just the Super Pumas, everything.

"It may well be that, in order to be certain the helicopters are completely safe, every aircraft will have to be double checked now so that nothing is left to go wrong that leads to a situation where there is a repeat of this accident.

"The sense of nervousness among the workforce and their friends and families is understandable. They are worried every time that they are flying across the water in helicopters.

"There are people this weekend who were expecting their loved ones home from their work, either last night or this morning, and they are never going to see them again."

Mark Abbey, regional director, Western North Sea for CHC, admitted the helicopter company faced an uphill battle to regain the confidence of the North Sea workforce following the latest tragedy involving Super Pumas in the North Sea.

He said: "I would acknowledge that there will be concerns – no doubt about that – and we will have to work hard to restore some of that confidence."

The Super Puma AS332L2, operated by the Canadian helicopter giant CHC, had been on a routine crew-change flight when the accident happened.

Earlier on Friday the aircraft, on charter to oil giant Total, had flown from the heliport at Aberdeen to the Dunbar and North Alwyn platforms and the Borgsten Dolphin drilling rig before heading towards Sumburgh. On board were two pilots, one Total employee and 15 other oil workers from contracting companies, including electricians, scaffolders and catering staff.

Amanda Smith, the mother of one of the surviving workers, Sam Smith, said her son had phoned her from hospital after suffering cuts in the crash.

She said: "He said it seemed to lose power and there was no time to brace, they just dropped into the sea. He was by the window so he was able to escape that way as it rolled over.

"He said he had come off better than a lot of people. It didn't seem real, I would say two hours later it's just beginning to sink in."

Audrey Wood, the mother of 27-year-old Stuart who died in the 2009 Super Puma crash, said no lessons appeared to have been learned by the industry.

She said: "It's just been like déjà vu. Our heartfelt sympathy and empathy are going out to those families. By the sound of things, there have been no lessons learned at all.

"Something needs to be done to reassure the men that need to go out to the oil rigs that they have a safe mode of transport and can come home safely to their families."

The Sumburgh-based Coastguard rescue helicopter and the Aith and Lerwick lifeboats were among the first on the scene.

Sue Todd, of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said: "They were on scene very quickly and quickly identified the helicopter in the water and immediately started to recover people from the water around the aircraft. They were contained within a reasonably small area.

"The wind and tidal conditions last night were from the south, keeping everything contained just off Garth Sneff point and Quendale Bay.

"They also identified that the two life rafts from the helicopter had been inflated, but there were no persons on board."

The Pericles, an emergency towing vessel contracted by Total, held the wreckage of the helicopter in place, awaiting the arrival of the Bibby Polaris, which arrived on scene yesterday afternoon to crane the wreckage on board.

First Minister Alex Salmond paid tribute to the "brave and hard-working" people involved in the rescue effort.

He said: "Our thoughts at this difficult time are with the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives in this tragic incident."

Tavish Scott, the Liberal Democrat MSP for Shetland, said: "The families of those lost must know why this helicopter ditched very suddenly. There have been repeated serious and tragically fatal crashes involving Super Puma helicopters.

"The operators are right to ground the entire fleet. But there are now serious questions about why the Super Puma had been cleared to fly, given its tragic record in recent years."

The flag above the Town House in Aberdeen – Europe's oil capital – was being flown at half-mast yesterday as a mark of respect for those who died in the disaster.