Helicopter - Statoils` actions hit the foreign news media - Rotor&Wing

Norway’s Statoil Vows Off Super Pumas, Turns to S-92s

By S.L. Fuller | December 6, 2016

Offshore

 
 
 
 
 

Photo by Anthony Pecchi, courtesy of Airbus Helicopters

Statoil, a global oil and gas company whose largest activities are located in Norway, has traded its Airbus Helicopter H225 Super Pumas in for Sikorsky S-92s, Reuters reported. The company said it wouldn’t operate the aircraft even if the country lifts the commercial ban. EASA lifted its temporary flight suspension on the aircraft in October. It was a Norwegian Statoil platform involved in the fatal April CHC Helicopter Super Puma crash in April.

Unions representing the oil workforce have been a loud voice against the use of Super Pumas. Statoil is not alone in its decision to replace them with Sikorsky S-92s for offshore operations. Brazil’s Omni Táxi Aéreo S.A. plans to use the Sikorskys for its operations. The H225 is a heavy-lift rotorcraft with five blades, while the S-92 is a four-blade medium-lift. Both can carry 19 passengers and have similar endurance abilities. The H225 has a nearly 1,000-lb advantage in useful load.