Safety Management

SMS

Leonardo Strives For Greater Gearbox Loss of Lube Capability

Design & Certification, Helicopters, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management

Finmeccanica Strives For Greater Gearbox Loss of Lube Capability Finmeccanica Helicopters (the recently rebranded AgustaWestland (UPDATE: and now Leonardo) is working to enhance the durability of helicopter Main Gear Boxes (MGBs) after a loss of lubrication. The company’s Marco Tamborini presented their approach at the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) 9th Rotorcraft Symposium held in Cologne in December […]

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HEMS S-76C+ Night Approach LOC-I Incident

Accidents & Incidents, FDM / Data Recorders, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Safety Culture, Safety Management, Special Mission Aircraft

HEMS S-76C Night Approach Loss of Control – In-flight (LOC-I) Incident A Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) Sikorsky S-76C+ C-GHHJ operated by Helijet on behalf of the BC Ambulance Service was on a VFR approach to the coastal Tofino/Long Beach Airport (CYAZ), British Columbia, Canada at 02:39 Local Time on the dark, moonless night of 15 November 2015.  It suffered a Loss of Control

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CAP1145 Helicopter Water Impact Survivability Statistics – A Critique

Accidents & Incidents, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Regulation, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

CAP1145 Helicopter Water Impact Survivability Statistics – A Critique Eurocopter AS332L2 G-WNSB impacted the sea 1.5 nm west of Sumburgh Airport, Shetland Islands on 23 August 2013 (see the last AAIB Special Bulletin) with the loss of 4 lives. https://youtu.be/C_3xlunGUk0 Within weeks the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) ordered a hurried safety review. This resulted in the CAP1145 report (‘Safety review of offshore public transport

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Maintenance Personnel Fatigue and Alertness

Accidents & Incidents, Human Factors / Performance, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Safety Management

Maintenance Personnel Fatigue and Alertness Maintenance personnel fatigue and a consequential lack of alertness is regularly being identified as contributory, or potentially contributory, to maintenance related air accidents and serious incidents.  We have covered three examples previously: Some involve poor shift patterns: Missing Igniters: Fatigue & Management of Change Shortcomings: The UAE GCAA investigation report explains most of the

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HUMS Vibration Health Monitoring Success

Accidents & Incidents, Helicopters, HUMS / VHM / UMS / IVHM, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management

HUMS Vibration Health Monitoring Success Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has published a Service Difficulty Report (SDR), dated 1 November 2015, that highlights a Health & Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) Vibration Health Monitoring (VHM) success. During investigation of a HUMS vibration alert, the main rotor head of an Airbus Helicopters EC225/H225 offshore helicopter was examined and wear was identified beyond the limits

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CSB: ‘Multiple Safety Deficiencies’ Led to ExxonMobil Refinery Explosion

Accidents & Incidents, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Culture, Safety Management

CSB: ‘Multiple Safety Deficiencies’ Led to ExxonMobil Refinery Explosion The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) report that they have “uncovered multiple process safety management deficiencies” that led to the 18 February 2015, explosion at the ExxonMobil Torrance refinery, California and an associated serious near miss. The CSB explain: …two workers were injured when an explosion occurred in the

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Credit: Boeing

The Passengers Who ‘Caused’ a 737 Tail Strike: Ground Handling Lessons

Accidents & Incidents, Fixed Wing, Safety Management

The Passengers Who ‘Caused’ a 737 Tail Strike On 12 January 2003 a serious incident occurred involving Transavia Boeing 737-800 PH-HZB at Rotterdam. The Dutch Safety Board (DSB) report says the aircraft: …pitched nose-up just after take -off thrust had been selected. The pitch up movement stopped when the aft fuselage and the tailskid assembly contacted the

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Aerossurance Marks RAeS 150th Anniversary by Sponsoring Rotorcraft Automation Conference

Design & Certification, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Regulation, Resilience, Safety Management

Aerossurance Marks RAeS 150th Anniversary by Sponsoring Rotorcraft Automation Conference The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) was founded on 12 January 1866, so is today celebrating its 150th anniversary (or sesquicentennial). To mark this significant milestone Aerossurance is pleased to be sponsoring the Society’s 2016 Rotorcraft Conference. This conference, to be held 6-7 July 2016 at the

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Our Top 20 Articles of 2015

Accidents & Incidents, Business Aviation, Crises / Emergency Response / SAR, Design & Certification, Fixed Wing, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Military / Defence, News, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Regulation, Safety Culture, Safety Management, Special Mission Aircraft, Survivability / Ditching

Aerossurance: Our Top 20 Articles of 2015 As we start the new year we look back on the 20 articles that proved most popular with our readers in 2015.  In reverse order: Number 20: Building St Helena Airport – An Industrial Scale ‘Grand Design’ This started with the building of the first airport on the volcanic

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Dangers of Aircraft Tyre Inflation

Accidents & Incidents, Fixed Wing, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Military / Defence, Safety Management

Dangers of Aircraft Tyre (US: Tire) Inflation The Royal Canadian Air Force  are investigating two recent tyre inflation burst accidents.  Both involve visiting aircraft using borrowed equipment: 25 August 2015 CT-114 Tutor CT114058 A Snowbird aircraft was diverted from the rest of the deployed team due to an in-flight emergency.  The aircraft was repaired, including a successful

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UK BOSIET/FOET Cat-A CA-EBS HUET Update

Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

UK BOSIET/FOET Cat-A CA-EBS HUET Update Category A Compressed Air Emergency Breathing Systems (CA-EBS) were introduced for helicopter passengers flying offshore over the UK Continental Shelf in September 2014.  This followed the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) North Sea Review, which resulted in the CAP1145 report. Oil and Gas UK, Step Change in Safety, OPITO, the International Association of Drilling Contractors

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B1900C PSM+ICR Accident in Pakistan 2010

Accidents & Incidents, Fixed Wing, Human Factors / Performance, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management

B1900C PSM+ICR Accident in Pakistan 2010 The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has recently published the report into the loss of a Beechcraft B1900C in 2010. The aircraft, AP-BJD, was being operated by JS Air (as subsidiary of the JS Group) when it crashed on 5 November 2010, killing 21 people.  The accident featured what a

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Canadian Coast Guard Helicopter Accident: CFIT, Survivability and More

Accidents & Incidents, Crises / Emergency Response / SAR, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Offshore, Safety Culture, Safety Management, Special Mission Aircraft, Survivability / Ditching

Fatal Arctic Bo105 CFIT gives lessons on low level ops, compliance with mx data, cold water survivability, alerting, data recorders and regulatory oversight.

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UK OHSAG Oct 2015 Minutes

Accidents & Incidents, Airfields / Heliports / Helidecks, Crises / Emergency Response / SAR, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, HUMS / VHM / UMS / IVHM, Logistics, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Regulation, Resilience, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

UK Offshore Helicopter Safety Action Group (OHSAG) October 2015 Minutes The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has just published the minutes of the 16 October 2015 meeting of the Offshore Helicopter Safety Action Group (OHSAG).  This is the third and last of the year (compared to six in 2014), postponed from July 2015. The OHSAG was formed as a result of the ‘Civil

UK OHSAG Oct 2015 Minutes Read Post »

So You Think The GOM is Non-Hostile?

Accidents & Incidents, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

So You Think The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is Non-Hostile? The Gulf of Mexico (GOM), off the coast of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas in particular, remains a busy area for offshore helicopter operations with over 2 million passengers carried and nearly 300,000 flying hours last year (see our article: Helicopter Ops and Safety – Gulf Of

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Back to the Future: Error Management

Accidents & Incidents, Air Traffic Management / Airspace, Airfields / Heliports / Helidecks, Business Aviation, Crises / Emergency Response / SAR, Design & Certification, Fixed Wing, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, HUMS / VHM / UMS / IVHM, Logistics, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Military / Defence, Mining / Resource Sector, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Resilience, Safety Culture, Safety Management

We look at some of the problems of error management and ask if we are still making the error management mistakes James Reason warned of in 1997 (spoiler: some organisations are). We also look at drift and how some have failed to grasp its more than poor compliance.

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Bell 407 Power Loss GOM Ditching: NTSB

Accidents & Incidents, Helicopters, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management, Survivability / Ditching

Bell 407 Power Loss GOM Ditching: NTSB (RLC B407 N373RL) The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has reported on the ditching of a Bell 407 offshore helicopter in the Gulf Of Mexico (GOM) on 11 November 2014.   The aircraft, N373RL operated by Rotorcraft Leasing Company (RLC), ditched following a partial power loss shortly after take off from an installation

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PDG Helicopters Commence UK & Eire Lighthouse Support Contract

Helicopters, Logistics, Mining / Resource Sector, Offshore, Safety Management

PDG Helicopters Commence UK & Eire Lighthouse Support Contract On 1 December 2015 PDG Helicopters commenced a £13mn helicopter support contract for the three UK and Eire General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs): The Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, known as the Northern Lighthouse Board (Scotland and the Isle of Man) whose history goes back to 1768 The Corporation of Trinity House, known

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Bristow Sikorsky S-92A

S-92A Emergency Landing: MGB Oil Checklist Recommendation

Accidents & Incidents, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Offshore, Oil & Gas / IOGP / Energy, Safety Management

S-92A Emergency Landing: MGB Oil Checklist Recommendation Earlier this month the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board (AIBN) issued their report into an emergency landing of Sikorsky S-92A LN-ONW, operated by Bristow Norway on 4 October 2013.  The crew almost ditched due to false warnings created by a single tripped circuit breaker. The Incident The S-92A was returning from the

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Misassembled Anti-Torque Pedals Cause EC135P1 Accident

Accidents & Incidents, Helicopters, Human Factors / Performance, Maintenance / Continuing Airworthiness / CAMOs, Safety Management

Misassembled Anti-Torque Pedals Cause EC135P1 Accident The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recently determined that misassembled anti-torque pedals caused an accident to Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter) EC135P1 N911KB, during a post-maintenance check flight by Metro Aviation at Shreveport, Louisiana on 9 November 2013. The Accident The pilot and two mechanics sustained minor injuries and the helicopter was substantially damaged

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