ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Offshore oil workers formally complained about their survival suits and raised concerns that Cougar chopper pilots were being pressured to fly in tough conditions, an inquiry into helicopter safety heard Wednesday.
The probe to assess risks faced by about 1,200 offshore staff was called after Cougar Flight 491 crashed into the North Atlantic last March, killing 17 of 18 people onboard.
The formal complaints were among four specifically aimed at helicopter safety since 2006, said Howard Pike, chief safety officer for the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.
"Two related to concerns that operators were putting undue pressure on Cougar Helicopters to conduct flights."
But the joint agency that oversees companies authorized for offshore oil activity found no reason to act on fears that Cougar helicopter pilots were under such stress, he said.
"While that may have been a concern of the workers, we saw no evidence of that - that Cougar was succumbing to any pressure."
Another complaint involved the fit of survival suits worn by workers who make the 90-minute flight to Hibernia or go on to two other sites more than 300 kilometres southeast of St. John's, Terra Nova and the Sea Rose.
The fourth complaint was "an interesting one," Pike said, "that related to a failure of the board to make a public stand prior to the resumption of helicopter flights" after the Cougar disaster last March 12.
"Workers were very much concerned with offshore flights."
The Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the crash. It has already announced that the pilots reported a loss of oil pressure in the gear box before losing control of the chopper as it ferried workers to Hibernia and the Sea Rose.
At the time of the crash the winds were clocked at 37 kilometres per hour and wave heights were recorded at two to three metres with an ocean temperature of 0C.
The same Sikorsky S-92 helicopter model came under scrutiny by an engineering team in the United Kingdom last week due to unexplained cracks in the footings that keep the gearbox attached to the aircraft.
Bristow Helicopters, based in Scotland, said Wednesday that "a hairline crack" was detected in the gearbox foot of an S-92 aircraft after five flying hours.
"Bristow understands the concerns of our offshore passengers and would like to relay Sikorsky's assurance that there is absolutely no airworthiness or safety issue associated with this defect," Bristow said in a statement.
"It is important to note," it adds, "that the current problem is in no way associated with the technical issue which caused the tragic accident involving an S-92 in Newfoundland earlier this year."
Paul Jackson, a spokesman for Sikorsky, said in an email last week that there's been one case in the North Sea where a crack resulted in a foot mount being severed from the aircraft. The other three foot mounts held, he said.
Pike cited 178 safety observations logged about helicopter operations since 1997 when the Hibernia platform started production.
None of those observations ever led to a formal safety infraction finding by the board.
Pike testified that four safety audits of the Cougar Helicopters base in St. John's have been conducted since 2000. He was not asked by inquiry counsel John Roil what those audits found.
Safety officers conduct inspections aboard the offshore installations about every three months, Pike said.
"It could be as little as two days, it could be five days or longer if necessary."
Board safety experts have a direct interest in making sure precautions are taken and policy is upheld, he said.
"Something to note here is that our job is not hands-off. We are as dependent on the safety of the installations as those who work on them every day. We travel to the offshore using the helicopter transport. So, in fact, every time we go offshore, there is a review of helicopter operations."
Inquiry commissioner Robert Wells hears next from Transport Canada officials when proceedings resume Monday. He is to make non-binding recommendations on how to make offshore helicopter transport as safe as is reasonably practical by March 31.
Wells himself, at the age of 76, went through simulated crash training so he could fly to Hibernia on Oct. 8 as part of his preparations. He was supposed to stay one day but wound up stranded at the giant offshore platform when rough weather rolled in. He was surprised two days later when a helicopter arrived despite strong winds.
He recalled as the inquiry began Monday thinking "what a marvellous piece of flying" it was when the chopper touched down on the helipad.
