Norway’s accident investigation board (Havarikommisjonen) suspects technical failure is behind the fatal accident last week that ended with a helicopter landing in the cold waters of the North Sea and then sinking. One person was killed and five others injured.
Equipment that was supposed to keep the helicopter afloat wasn’t released. The helicopter was registered as flying low and fast when it crashed off Sotra west of Bergen during an evening training mission. It sunk but has been salvaged “fairly intact,” and is now under examination by aviation experts.
“There’s a lot to indicate technical failure, without us knowing what was behind it,” Kåre Halvorsen of the investigation board told state broadcaster NRK on Monday. “It was clearly a landing impact that those on board could have survived even though not all of them did.” The last person to be plucked out of the sea by rescue crews, a nurse employed by state oil company Equinor, died while most of the others have already been released from hospital.
The accident has sent a chill through helicopter transport to Equinor’s and other companie’ offshore oil and gas installations but it resumed shortly thereafter. Flags at Equinor flew at half-mast over the loss of their colleague.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
