Super Pumas Face Global Grounding After Damning Report – Ban Extended to SAR
Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority has decided to suspend all use of the Super Puma H225, after the Accident Investigation Board Norway (AIBN) called on the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to take “immediate action” to ensure the aircraft was safe.
The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority (CAAN) said: “CAA has with effect from 1 June 2016 extended the flight ban for helicopter types EC225LP and AS332L2.
“This means that neither will be flying search and rescue missions with the two helicopter types”.
Prior to June 1, the ban extended only to commercial flights, and not to search and rescue operations.
A preliminary report issued yesterday by the Accident Investigation Board of Norway into Aprils Super Puma crash, said it had found “features strongly consistent with fatigue” in parts of the main gearbox (MGB).
It added: “It cannot be ruled out that this signifies a possible safety issue that can affect other MGBs of the same type.
“The nature of the catastrophic failure of the LN-OJF main rotor system indicates that the current means to detect a failure in advance are not effective.”
The Super Puma H225 helicopter is currently grounded in the UK and Norway but the manufacturer Airbus has lifted a recommendation that flights be suspended worldwide.
Airbus said at the time there was no evidence to link the crash with two previous incidents in Scotland involving the same model of helicopter.
The world’s two largest helicopter operators CHC and Bristow on Wednesday suspended all flights using an Airbus Group SE-made model involved in a fatal crash in April.
Spokeswomen for both companies said late Wednesday that they had decided to temporarily suspend all flights pending updates from air-safety authorities.
While the energy downturn has led to an excess supply of helicopters, the potential grounding of the entire global EC225 fleet, if other companies follow Bristow and CHC, could cause problems. Helicopters tend to be set up for specific uses such as passenger flights, and it could take time to convert other aircraft for emergency response purposes.
Bristow Group Inc. of Houston grounded most of its 20-strong EC225 fleet after the crash but kept flying those involved in search-and-rescue operations and training flights.
An online petition calling for all Super Puma 225s to be “permanently removed from service” has attracted nearly 30,000 signatures.
