Helicopter safety

The Unite general and BALPA pilots’ unions gave evidence to the Transport Select Committee inquiry into offshore helicopter safety last month, established in the wake of last year’s Super Puma helicopter crash off Shetland which killed four people (see Labour Research, October 2013, page 26).

Unite regional industrial officer John Taylor said that “modest proposals for changes to helicopter seating configuration, improved on-board lighting, survival training and personal safety equipment present an opportunity to address this problem”.

BALPA has called for an independent judicial inquiry into offshore helicopter safety. General secretary Jim McAuslan said that such an inquiry is needed “to understand what’s going wrong with the UK, especially compared with the situation in Norway where there appears to be a better safety record”.

www.balpa.org/News-and-campaigns/News/PILOTS-TO-CALL-FOR-INDEPENDENT-INQUIRY.aspx

www.unitetheunion.org/news/mps-urged-to-help-rebuild-confidence-in-offshore-helicopter-safety/