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Monday 20 April 2009

Sea rescue beacons 'a priority'

Oil and gas industry representatives have said they are looking into the use of personal safety beacons for workers flying offshore. It comes after the North Sea helicopter crash on 1 April in which 16 men died.

The use of beacons, which can help rescuers find people in the sea, has been blocked as there is a risk they can interfere with other signals. Its reintroduction has been backed by politicians but an aviation writer said it was withdrawn for good reason. The crash earlier this month, which killed 14 passengers and two crew who were returning from BP's Miller platform on a Super Puma helicopter, happened just weeks after another incident involving a Super Puma.

In February, 18 people were rescued after their helicopter plunged into the North Sea. Following that incident, the Civil Aviation Authority blocked the use of personal locator beacons in case they interfered with the more powerful beacon signal from downed aircraft. Now, industry body Oil and Gas UK, have said that finding a technical solution that will allow the beacons to be safely reinstated was a matter of priority, and was discussed at a meeting on Friday.

Bob Keiller, from Oil and Gas UK, said: "Reinstating these beacons, known in the industry as personal locator beacons or PLBs, is being dealt with by an industry workgroup which was set up by Oil and Gas UK soon after an offshore helicopter ditched in the North Sea in February. "At Friday's meeting, the helicopter issues task group agreed that the momentum must be maintained on this work and even accelerated where possible so that we can get PLBs back in use as quickly as we can."

Aberdeen North Labour MP, Frank Doran, claimed the removal of the locators could have been "unwarranted". He said: "Of course it is right to fully consider the compatibility of the beacons with flight systems, but if a helicopter goes down in the sea the priority is to find survivors as quickly as possible."

'Huge debt'
Lewis Macdonald, Labour MSP for Aberdeen Central, said: "It is absolutely right that aircraft beacons must take precedence, but personal locators were hailed as a major safety breakthrough when they were first introduced. "If any worker ends up in the water then the ability of rescue services to reach them quickly can be the difference between life and death." He added: "We owe a huge debt to the men and women who work offshore and I want to see a suitable replacement developed as a matter of urgency. It should be possible to find a technological solution that is compatible with the equipment used by helicopters and life rafts."

However, aviation writer, Jim Ferguson, said: "I am somewhat disturbed that Frank Doran apparently regards the withdrawal of these items as being "unwarranted" and have to wonder whether he is fully aware of the reasons for this action. In fact, the CAA banned them because they were unapproved for aviation use, previous instances of inadvertent activation had been reported - which had the potential for causing problems to onboard aircraft systems. According to the accident investigators, the locators had also caused difficulties during the rescue phase of the near-lethal incident in February."

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