I’ll start today with some very sad news, Another Super Puma Helicopter ditched in the North Sea on Friday with 18 people onboard, 4 people were killed, the rest were rescued, my thoughts go out to all those involved, I was on a Super Puma myself last Monday, and I did not enjoy it one minute. There is a Face Book page Here which speaks for itself, if you have time please check it out and if you agree please like it.
Anyway, here are a few shots from Bruges taken at a happier time.
We know people who use the Puma helicopters. One person was in a ditching in the North Sea. That one, all were rescued but all had a serious fright. We always think about the personnel going to and fro, especially those people we know. It a perpetual finger crossing exercise.
It’s a pretty desperate situation. I know helicopters are more susceptible to problems than other aircraft, however, there has been one too many failures. mostly the same or similar and unnecessary loss of life as a consequence. I have already heard a spokesperson quoting percentages about the relative merits and safety of the helicopters. So many agendas at play there. How insensitive can you get!
Sharp pix.
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Thanks Menhir1
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Beautiful images Mark and I’m so sorry to here about that accident. My heart goes out to the families that have lost loved ones.
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Thanks Edith.
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How many more accidents are they going to allow before withdrawing these choppers from use? Terrible. Your photographs of Bruges are beautiful though.
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Yeah scrap the super Puma, thanks Lorna.
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Beautiful images Mark! I’m so sorry to hear bout the tragic loss of life. My heart goes out to all those affected by the accident!
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Thanks RC.
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Mark, these images are beautiful! I am so sorry to hear about the helicopter crash. Tragic loss.
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According to the articles I’ve been reading a lot of these choppers aren’t liked by those who use them… always sad that accidents have to occur to make change happen.
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The moment I heard of that accident, I immediately thought of you and hoped you were elsewhere. Glad to hear you are safe, Mark. Thanks to blogging, I now find I have contacts scattered across the world, and events in far-flung places now often feel more personal when I think of a person who comes from that area.
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Thanks Andy.
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Just your blog earlier and then did a little research on th helicopter problems. Certainly seems the company needs to take them out of service and go back to the drawing board. I’m sorry to the families for their loss and to those injured. Hope you don’t have to get on another one. They look awkward to mange and then you get a wind come up …..
Thank you for the photos.
Nancy
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Thank you Nancy.
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excellent 🙂
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It’s strange to hear about this. If these choppers are prone to problems then why are they being used? I don’t understand. There are plenty of reliable and relatively safe choppers out there, or at least there were when I worked around them. Seems like an easy problem to solve, or maybe I’m missing something.
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It’s all down to money unfortunately.
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Superb shots Mark. Heartbreaking to think these tragedies could have been prevented!
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Its very sad about the PUMA chopper crashes, I went and took a look at the Facebook page and it really does appear that people have agenuine and very valid fear of flying on them. Is being transported by boat more expensive? It certainly appears to be the safer option, I cannot imagine why staff are being forced to travel in the manner 😦
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By boat can take a lot longer especially if the weather is bad, people don’t like being stuck on a rig when they want to get home, and also being stuck on a boat in rough weather isn’t nice.
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I understand the reasoning and that does make sense. What are the stats like in relation to the comparison between Boat trip and the chopper trip? I.e: is it evident that the trip is significantly more dangerous using the chopper?
I cant imagine being stuck in a chopper during rough weather would be all that nice either. I really can’t say which I would choose for sure unless I was in the situation, though I think I might go with the boat without actually having experienced it!
Thanks for the response.. 🙂
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It is safer by boat but as far as stats the chopper is still safe, Aberdeen is the busiest heliport in the world
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