70 % of Super Puma AS332 L2 fleet in the North Sea to fly again by April the 23rd

Following the UK Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) initial report on April 9th Eurocopter issued an Alert Service Bulletin (ASB) that day to all its Super Puma AS332 L2 operators in accordance with the initial report.

Eurocopter has noted the AAIB’s further report together with its Safety Recommendation 2009-051 issued on Friday the 17th April as well as the Airworthiness Directive published the same day at 10 pm by EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency).
 
In response, Eurocopter believes that the current maintenance and check procedures provided they are correctly applied, are fully satisfactory and assure the safety of Super Puma flight operations.

In order to allow a majority of operators to limit the workload related to a main gearbox intervention, Eurocopter have launched this weekend a complementary ASB to comply with the 3rd point of the AAIB Safety recommendation (2009-050). This ASB is already under implementation by various operators and about 70 % of the Super Puma AS332 L2 fleet in the North Sea will fly again by April the 23rd. All the Oil and Gas companies operating Super Puma AS332 L2 helicopters in the North Sea will start to fly again today.
  
Eurocopter is unable to comment further at this stage, since the investigation is ongoing.

The Super Puma AS332 L2 is recognised by more than 20 operators in 15 countries as a high-performance helicopter operating in all-weather conditions, offering safety, endurance and range. 83 aircraft of the family are currently in service around the globe. The Super Puma family has flown more than 3.7 millions hours.

At Eurocopter, safety is and has always been the number one priority: everyday, thousands of people fly on Eurocopter aircraft. Eurocopter continues to improve its safety standards, requires suppliers to do the same and shares this culture with customers. 

Source: Eurocopter