2006 Morecambe Bay Helicopter Crash - Investigation

Investigation

The investigation into the crash started the same night as the accident. The flight data recorders were eventually recovered on 17 January 2007 after severe weather hampered recovery attempts. The storms also hampered efforts to find and recover those lost in the incident. A lot of speculation started to appear into the possible causes for the tragic crash. Because offshore helicopter operations are so crucial to the day to day running of offshore platforms, the AAIB felt it necessary to release a preliminary bulletin as soon as possible. A special bulletin released by the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) (S1/2007) stated: "The conclusion of this preliminary examination is that there are no signs of pre-impact malfunction of any major mechanical components, including the tail rotor and its drive shaft."

The formal report into the accident, released in October 2008, stated that "human factors" were the cause of the crash. The co-pilot, who was the handling pilot at the time, complained he felt unwell and that he was running into difficulties. He asked the commander for assistance, whereupon the commander took control of the helicopter. However, the transfer of control from co-pilot to commander was roughly four seconds after the co-pilot had asked for assistance. The report found that the transfer of control wasn't smooth enough and that the commander wasn't "mentally primed to take control of the helicopter." The report concluded that:

"During the attempted recovery of the helicopter from its unusual attitude the commander was devoid of any external visual cues and was possibly distracted over concerns for the well-being of his co-pilot. Concerns for his co-pilot and some degree of disorientation possibly distracted the commander from his usual instrument scan to the extent that he did not notice the increasing angle of bank to the right and the helicopter's continuing descent into the sea." —AAIB Report No: 7/2008