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https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/n ... torm-otto/
A helicopter has been left stranded onboard TotalEnergies’ Elgin platform after storm winds ripped off several of its rotor blades.
The Airbus H175 operated by Offshore Helicopter Services UK (OHS) suffered severe damage during Storm Otto, which last week left thousands of homes without power and grounded dozens of offshore flights.
The aircraft landed safely but an illuminated tail rotor chip light prevented it from departing for its return journey.
While the chopper was parked on the helipad, storm gusts – which reached in excess of 100mph in the north east – then snapped off three of its five blades close to where they meet the main rotor mast.
The extent of the damage means the airframe will require airlifting
back to Aberdeen to be repaired.
“We are working with our client and recovery partners to return the aircraft to base as soon as there is a weather window that will allow us to do so.”
Despite the grounded aircraft, platform operator TotalEnergies (PAR:TTE) confirmed there is sufficient space on the helipad to allow other helicopters to land and take off as normal.
The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) confirmed it was investigating the incident.
RMT union organiser Jake Molloy said the outcome of the incident was “shocking” but that the right safety steps had been taken in grounding the aircraft initially.
“The helicopter operator and platform operator, TotalEnergies, would have been well aware of the pending storm and the risks of having an exposed helicopter sitting on the deck. That said, there were few if any other options open to the operators,” he noted.
“Whether the risk of blades being snapped off featured as a risk will no doubt form part of the investigation. There is also the obvious potential for that debris to be blown across the installation causing damage and or injury and again I expect this will also feature in the investigation.
Helihub:
https://helihub.com/2023/02/20/airbus-h ... -the-root/
Update 20-Feb-23 Industry sources advise
that the rotor brake failed to hold the main blades from windmilling
before they had been tied down,
resulting in the loss of two broken blades into the sea and another blade hit the cockpit.