Super Puma Crash – 50p Part May Have Been Cause – Preliminary Report
Airbus Helicopters has acted to allay concerns over the safety of its Super Puma aircraft after Norwegian investigators declined to rule out a repetition of past gearbox problems being the cause of a crash that killed 11 oil workers and two pilots.
The Accident Investigation Board of Norway said in a preliminary report on Friday that it was examining three possible causes for the April 29 crash near Bergen in which the main rotor section separated from the aircraft.
These included the struts that attach the rotor head to the helicopter, and two parts linked to the gearbox that drives the blades — the “epicyclic module” and the main gearbox housing.
Britain and Norway have grounded commercial Super Puma flights, a workhorse of the oil industry, amid oncerns over a repeat of gearbox problems linked to previous accidents.
In an unusual move during an investigation, Airbus Helicopters issued a statement narrowing the probable cause to the attachment of the struts, known as “suspension bars”, rather than the gearbox. It also pinpointed maintenance.
It said its own analysis had produced seven potential theories to explain why the main rotor detached.
“Out of these seven scenarios, only one — the failure of the attachment of a suspension bar — can be assessed as probable by Airbus Helicopters, based on the information available to date,” it said.
“Analysis of the helicopter’s maintenance history has just started and should provide a better understanding of the most likely causes,” it added.
Speculation has been rife on Aviation site pprune.org for several weeks since the crash that failure to insert a simple clip through the pin that keeps the strut in place, may have been the cause of the crash.
Oil and Gas People wanted to avoid speculation so we have been following the issue closely but the new report seems to add considerable weight to this theory. We have also been informed by industry insiders that operators have specifically been asked to check that the ‘Nappy Pins’, as they are known, are in place. If the Nappy Pin was not in place the main pin that holds the strut in place could work its way loose over time with the vibration of the aircraft.
Operator CHC Helicopter reiterated the three areas for investigation listed in the report. In early May, Airbus asked operators to check installation of the three suspension bars, but safety authorities went further and called for gearbox checks.
A spokesman for the Norwegian investigators said it was too early to say what caused the crash. “There are still many doors open and we will close them one by one in due time,” he said.
