Landing på feil platform - Ikke noe nytt

Jeg mener å huske at en maskin fra Helikopter Service landet på feil rigg vest av Bergen med kronprins Haakon Magnus skulle åpne en ny plattform. Har du noen detaljer om saken så hører jeg gjerne fra deg. Ellers kjenner jeg til fere tilfeller, og jeg har vært nære på selv også.

North Sea blunder: Helicopter pilots suspended after landing aircraft on wrong rig

OIL workers have told how the pilots told radio operators "we appear to have landed on the wrong rig" after the blunder 60 miles north of Aberdeen - now a probe into the error has been launched.


A Bond-operated S-92 helicopter
TWO pilots have been suspended after landing a helicopter on the wrong North Sea oil rig.

The Bond-operated S-92 chopper, carrying one passenger, was heading for the Buzzard platform 60 miles north of Aberdeen.

But it made an unscheduled landing on the Nexen-operated Ensco 120 jack-up rig roughly nine nautical miles away.

Yesterday, Bond confirmed two employees had been taken off the flight roster pending a full investigation.

One oil worker said: "When this chopper landed on the rig, the radio operator called the helicopter and said, 'Can we help you?'

"They replied, 'We appear to have landed on the wrong rig'.

"Most helicopter accidents occur on approach or departure - you must have a crew on the rig ready to receive the chopper and a standby boat there to offer help if needed. Lives have been put at risk. It's unbelievable that, in this day and age, they could have got this so wrong."

When helicopters are approaching a rig, all crane movements are suspended but it's understood the Ensco 120's cranes were still operating.


The Ensco 120 rig

The worker added: "Most of the time the crane operator is the helicopter landing officer so that takes care of the problem."

The aircraft is understood to have left Aberdeen airport at 5.30pm on Friday. It made a number of scheduled landings before arriving unexpectedly at the Ensco 120 around 7pm.

Offshore union RMT leader Jake Molloy said: "We have had landings on the wrong deck before but they have normally been very close to one another.

"Nine miles apart is difficult to comprehend when the pilots have to call in to the helideck asking for clearance and the landing officer should have it in sight.

"This is an area that has to be looked at carefully and hopefully lessons can be learned."

Helicopter safety campaigner and north-east MSP Lewis Macdonald said: "Clearly, everybody who uses helicopters - and their families - needs to have confidence in the systems and procedures used by companies like Bond.

"Anything that undermines that confidence must be investigated urgently.

"An incident such as this is bound to throw up questions and concerns."



     The Buzzard Platform