Helicopter company defends its safety record
The company that built the helicopter that crashed off the coast of Newfoundland last month said there is nothing wrong with the aircraft's safety certification.
Sikorsky Aircraft denies that its S-92A helicopter — one of which crashed in the ocean on March 12 killing 17 oil industry workers — failed any test required by aviation authorities in Canada or the United States.
An email sent to CBC News by Sikorsky spokesperson Paul Jackson takes issue with assertions in a report published Monday by the Globe and Mail Newspaper, that the S-92A couldn't meet a specification that calls for the main gearbox to run for half an hour without oil — a requirement known as "run dry."
"No such 'run dry' requirement, as described in media reports, exists for civil certified rotorcraft," wrote Jackson. "Sikorsky takes exception to the characterization that the helicopter failed to meet any certification requirements."
Jackson also noted that the helicopter has a system that is intended to isolate any leaks and recirculate oil to prevent the gearbox from running dry.
Monday's Globe and Mail article also referred to Sikorsky S-92A that was forced to land in Australia last summer, an incident that Jackson said should not be linked with what happened off the coast of Newfoundland.
"The earlier incident involving a precautionary S-92A landing in Australia was investigated was determined that an issue related to operator's maintenance was a significant factor," Jackson wrote.
The Cougar Sikorskys used in Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore industry have been grounded since the crash of Flight 491.
A union that represents some offshore workers says many of them are worried about the safety of the helicopter. Sheldon Peddle of Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union says a task force of industry representatives has been established to decide when offshore flights will resume but the union has been excluded.
"People are concerned about the validity of the information that they're getting, the integrity of the information," Peddle said.
"They would like to have someone from their union involved in this process to take information back, to interject any concerns they may have. And to make sure the information they get is reliable. And we've been denied that."
Some union members will refuse to climb aboard the Sikorskys until they're convinced the helicopters are safe, Peddle said.
"They are not going to fly in this helicopter until they get more answers about the S-92A.… We need to find out why these things are happening and why this aircraft is still being pushed as a safe mode of transportation over water," he said.