An Airbus H225 Super Puma helicopter ferrying 11 oil workers and two crew from a Norwegian oil platform crashed in the North Sea on April 29th killing all people on board. As Reuters reported, Norwegian investigators have provisionally ruled out pilot error, saying it was most likely caused by a technical fault. Investigations remain at an early stage, however.
“The investigation will now solely be focussed on potential root causes of a technical failure, such as design, production, and/or maintenance,” Airbus Helicopters said in a statement.
The Super Puma was travelling from the North Sea Gullfaks B oil field, off the Norwegian coast, when it crashed en route to Flesland Airport, Metro wrote.
Meanwhile, European air safety officials called for emergency inspections of Airbus Group SE EC225 helicopters, The Wall Street reported. The Cologne, Germany-based European Aviation Safety Agency issued an emergency airworthiness directive instructing users of the Airbus helicopter to perform a series of inspections before their next flights.