Airbus offers “full support” to Norwegian EC225 crash investigation team

Airbus Helicopters has said that it will provide its “full support” to the team from the Accident Investigation Board Norway that has been tasked with investigating the crash of one of its EC225 Super Puma helicopters last Friday (29 April) in near Bergen, Norway that killed 13 people.

The aircraft manufacturer has now sent an advisory message to all its customers using the same helicopter model to inspect the suspension bars and fittings on the helicopter main rotor.

The request has been sent under mandatory compliance and advises customers to send the results of the inspection to Airbus.

Airbus has also distanced itself from speculation that the malfunction of the helicopter could be linked to the ditching of similar models in the North Sea 32 miles south west of Shetland in October 2012. In that instance there was a failure of the gearbox lubrication system and a false warning in the emergency lubrication system. In that instance 12 oil rig workers were injured a similar CHC-operated Super Puma EC225 had to be put down in the water.

In a statement the manufacturer said: “Airbus Helicopters welcomes the announcement made by the Accident Investigation Board Norway (AIBN). The investigation will now solely be focused on potential root causes of a technical failure, such as design, production, and/or maintenance. Airbus Helicopters continues to provide its full support to the AIBN investigation.

“At this stage and based on the latest information, preliminary inspection of the main gearbox vertical shaft shows no link with the 2012 ditching events.”