Helicopter Flights Not Risky for Offshore Operations says Shell Boss

mayo | environment | news report Friday June 13, 2008 18:11 by budgie

Another reason for Shell to adopt a safer offshore for Corrib.

One of the arguments for the way Shell want to operate the Corrib gas field has always been that using a production pipeline/ onshore refinery would limit the need for helicopter flights for workers.

Flights to and from offshore rigs are said to be dangerous. Local people have always countered that there was an element of choice in working for Shell, while they had no choice about living next to a high pressure production pipeline.

Now however, the director of air safety for Shell has said that helicopter flights are not actually that dangerous at all. An examination of 2,000 helicopter accidents has shown that it was poor air safety systems that were the problem, and the majority of accidents could have been prevented by following more stringent procedures.

Shell Helicoptor- the company says offshore operations in Irish waters are too dangerous

Presenting a paper at the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Maritime Operations of Rotorcraft conference on Wednesday, Mr. Mark Stevens, Director Air Safety at Shell Aircraft International, compared offshore transport favourably with safety figures of commercial airlines.

Stevens's showed performance figures which put offshore transport in third place with 4.5 fatal per one million flying hours, compared to 2.0 per million for commuter airlines, and 0.6 for average commercial airlines.

Examining how safety has improved in fixed wing operations, he pointed out that damage tolerant design,improved reliability/crashworthiness, and flight data monitoring have all played their part in improved air safety.

Surprisingly, Shell has only started installing safety systems for helicopter flights in the last ten years.

An examination of more than 2,000 helicopter accidents carried out by Shell revealed that most accidents could have been prevented if aircraft met new airworthiness standards.

It seems that once proper heath and safety procedures are followed, there is no particular risk associated with offshore rig helicopter operation.