CHC Helikopter Service Flight 241
A Eurocopter EC225LP Super Puma similar to the one that crashed | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 29 April 2016 |
| Summary | Gearbox failure, rotor separation |
| Site | Skitholmen, Øygarden, Hordaland, Norway 60°27′8″N 4°55′49″E / 60.45222°N 4.93028°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Eurocopter EC225LP Super Puma |
| Operator | CHC Helikopter Service |
| ICAO flight No. | HKS241 |
| Call sign | HELIBUS 241 |
| Registration | LN-OJF |
| Flight origin | Flesland Airport, Bergen, Norway |
| Stopover | Gullfaks B platform, North Sea |
| Destination | Flesland Airport, Bergen, Norway |
| Occupants | 13 |
| Passengers | 11 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 13 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On 29 April 2016, a CHC Helikopter Service Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma helicopter, carrying oil workers from the Gullfaks B platform in the North Sea, crashed near Turøy, a Norwegian coastal island 36 kilometres (22 mi) from the city of Bergen. The main rotor assembly detached from the aircraft and the fuselage plummeted to the ground, exploding on impact. All thirteen people, 11 Norwegians, one Briton and an Italian, on board were killed.
The subsequent investigation concluded that a gear in the main rotor gearbox had failed due to a fatigue crack that had propagated under-surface, escaping detection. Various safety recommendations were made, including for Airbus Helicopters, the current manufacturer of the type, to consider redesigning the affected gearbox.