“If the sea state is too rough for a successful emergency ditching, then a helicopter shouldn’t be operating, period,” TSB’s Wendy Tadros said at a press conference in St. John’s Wednesday afternoon.
On Friday, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said Newfoundland’s three offshore oil operators — Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose — would adopt the TSB’s recommendation.
Archive for the ‘accidents’ Category
Newfoundland operators to halt flights when seas are rough
Posted in accidents, tagged Canada, crash, helicopters, Newfoundland, offshore oil, safety on February 14, 2011| 1 Comment »
Weekend Reading
Posted in accidents, tagged Bromwich, Don Boesch, FPSO, Gryphon Alpha, National Commission, Terry Garcia on February 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Courtesy of BOE’s Cheryl Anderson and Gary Gentile of Platts Oilgram News:
Draft Administration comments on the National Commission’s legislative recommendations.
Michael Bromwich speech at Baker Institute, Rice University on 11 February.
House testimony of Commissioners Don Boesch and Terry Garcia on 11 February.
Canadian TSB releases helicopter crash report
Posted in accidents, tagged Canada, crash, helicopters, Newfoundland, offshore oil, safety on February 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Area map with helicopter track and impact position
BOE’s Cheryl Anderson has been tracking this story. Click here for the full TSB report.
Occurrence Summary:
On 12 March 2009 a Cougar Helicopters’ Sikorsky S-92A on a flight to the Hibernia oil production platform had a total loss of oil in the transmission’s main gear box. The flight crew descended to 800 feet and headed towards St. John’s. Approximately 35 nautical miles from St. John’s, during an attempted ditching, the helicopter struck the water in a high rate of descent. One passenger survived with serious injuries and the other seventeen occupants of the helicopter died of drowning.
Safety Issues
- Category A rotorcraft certified under the “extremely remote” criteria may not be capable of continued operation for 30 minutes with only residual main gear box lubrication.
- Given today’s operating environments, it may now be technically feasible and economically justifiable to produce a helicopter that can operate in excess of 30 minutes following a massive loss of main gear box lubricant.
- Helicopter crews and passengers in Canada remain at risk where helicopters are operated over sea states exceeding the capability of their Emergency Flotation Systems.
- Without a supplemental breathing system, occupants have very little time to egress from a submerged or capsized helicopter before breaking their breath-holds in cold water.
TSB Recommendations
- The Federal Aviation Administration, Transport Canada and the European Aviation Safety Agency remove the “extremely remote” provision from the rule requiring 30 minutes of safe operation following the loss of main gearbox lubricant for all newly constructed Category A transport helicopters and, after a phase-in period, for all existing ones.
- The Federal Aviation Administration assess the adequacy of the 30 minute main gearbox run dry requirement for Category A transport helicopters.
- Transport Canada prohibit commercial operation of Category A transport helicopters over water when the sea state will not permit safe ditching and successful evacuation.
- Transport Canada require that supplemental underwater breathing apparatus be mandatory for all occupants of helicopters involved in overwater flights who are required to wear a Passenger Transportation Suit System.
Interesting items from Martin Ferguson’s press conference
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, macondo, Montara, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on February 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »
From the Australia Resources Minister’s Press Conference on 4 February in Canberra (click for the full transcript):
I might also say that I was in the United States last week and these issues were clearly top of mind in my discussions in Washington (l didn’t know he was here and have seen no US coverage of these meetings.)
I reinforced my previous commitment to work closely with the United States in terms of the consideration of the outstanding recommendations of the Macondo report and our determination to put in place a single national regulator in Australia
Discussions were also held with the companies and the US administration about an international conference we will hold in Western Australia in August of this year, focusing on the recommendations of the Macondo and Montara reports. That conference will be highly technical in nature.
It will in my opinion be a very important regulatory conference because it’s about basically having a look at where we are, what national and international responses can be coordinated, any specifications that might have to be changed so that we get a uniform approach to industry practice and the nature of equipment used. (Is the Minister unaware of the Vancouver conference and the ongoing work among regulators?)
(On the report about the Varanus Island explosion) Firstly I’d love to get my hands on it because I want to fully assess it. But I can’t get access to it at the moment because the WA government has determined it would be inappropriate to release it because it may impinge on potential legal proceedings.
Transocean to release report next month
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on February 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »
From today’s Platts Oilgram News:
Offshore drilling giant Transocean expects to release its internal investigative report next month on last year’s Macondo disaster in the Gulf of Mexico as the first of several milestones toward resolving liability issues, Transocean CEO Steven Newman said February 8.
The BOP section of TO’s report should be very interesting.
Rice University Offshore Safety Conference; 11 February
Posted in accidents, tagged accidents, Baker Institute, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, Rice University, safety on February 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Good Montara Article in the Sydney Morning Herald
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, Australia, blowouts, Montara, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on February 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Montara Blowout - Timor Sea
PTTEP will have to report monthly and meet quarterly with Mr Ferguson under a binding agreement for the next 18 months.
Comment: That “penalty” is almost comical. What is the next level of punishment – weekly meetings with Ferguson? Also, shouldn’t the Minister let the regulator oversee PTTEP? Shouldn’t the Minister receive such reports and briefings from the regulator?
There is no disincentive, there’s no penalties. That’s what I think many Australians will be scratching their heads about. Paul Gamblin, WWF WA Director
Comment: I have to agree with the World Wildlife Federation. As one who has been following Monatara since the blowout was first reported and has read every page of the submissions and testimony, it seems inconceivable that PTTEP is able to continue its operations with no apparent penalty.
Canadian Helicopter Crash Report to be Released on Wednesday
Posted in accidents, tagged Canada, crash, helicopters, Newfoundland, offshore oil on February 7, 2011| 1 Comment »
The Canadian Transportation Safety Board’s report on the March 2009 helicopter crash that killed 17 workers offshore Newfoundland will be released on 9 February. This CTV piece provides a good summary of some of the significant issues that have surfaced in the press including:
Pre-crash warnings:
A Canadian investigator who red flagged main gearbox problems months before a Sikorsky helicopter crashed off Newfoundland says he’ll closely read a federal report on what caused the deadly accident.
Criticism of the FAA for their failure to respond:
He forwarded his results to the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. agency that originally certified the aircraft, saying he hoped to hear what a deeper probe would find.
FAA says “Not My Job:”
Les Dorr said the agency didn’t send any follow up research it did to Yearwood because it wasn’t under any obligation to do so under international agreements.
Transport Canada says “Not My Job” and points the finger at FAA:
Maryse Durette, a spokeswoman for the agency, says in an email the matter was the FAA’s responsibility and Transport Canada would wait for the original certifier to make recommendations before acting.
While the data suggest that the risk to offshore workers may be greatest when they are travelling to and from a facility, this investigation has received very little attention outside of Canada. That is unfortunate.
Biology Lab and the Deepwater Horizon BOP
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, BOP, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on February 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »
This cartoon reminded BOE sage Odd Finnestad of the Deepwater Horizon BOP “forensics” testing.
While the BOP testing is now in its 4th month with no official updates and no information on the badly neglected investigation website (where items from last August are listed as the “latest news”), there is online video evidence that gives us good clues about what happened. However, this is partial evidence, and concerned operators, contractors, and regulators need complete information. While we wait, wells are being drilled around the world without the benefit of even preliminary findings.
When a plane crashes, information is released as soon as possible so that future accidents can be prevented. Why is that not the case with this investigation? The absence of urgency and transparency is most disappointing.
Deep Water Hysteria
Posted in accidents, tagged ANP, Brazil, macondo, Montara, offshore oil, Petrobras, safety on February 6, 2011| 2 Comments »
BOE’s Chery Anderson has alerted us that the Petrobras P-33 platform, which had been shut-in at the direction of the Brazilian regulators, has resumed production. Unfortunately, as has been the case with many post-Macondo articles, the author felt compelled to link the Petrobras problem to deep water.
…the accident once again raised concerns about the safety of deep-water oil output in the wake of last year’s disaster in the U.S Gulf of Mexico.
Contrary to popular opinion, water depth was a relatively minor factor in the Macondo blowout, and had nothing to do with the maintenance issues at the P-33 and other Campos basin facilities. Shallow water was a more significant contributing factor to the Montara blowout (batched completions, mudline suspensions, and two-stage platform installation) than deep water was at Macondo.
