The final investigation report into the Clutha helicopter crash a year ago today will not be published until mid-2015.
A
draft version will take several weeks to complete, the UK Department
for Transport’s air accident investigation branch (AAIB) said yesterday.
It will then be sent to “interested parties”, such as relatives of
those who died and the helicopter firms involved, early next year.
Ten
people were killed when a Police Scotland helicopter crashed on to the
Clutha bar in Glasgow city center on Friday, 29 November, 2013.
The
AAIB issued its last interim report into the crash in February, when it
revealed the helicopter’s two engines had failed after being starved of
fuel, despite 76kg of fuel remaining in its main tank.
The AAIB
said the two fuel supply tanks linking the main tank to the engines were
almost empty, but it found no problems with the connecting pipes.
It
said yesterday the investigation had been protracted because the
Eurocopter EC135 T2+ aircraft was not required to have flight data or
cockpit voice recorders. It said: “As a result, significant work was
required to extract and analyze the contents of non-volatile memory
from microchipped equipment known to record data.
“This, together
with further examination of the aircraft and subsequent tests, has now
been completed, to the extent that the investigation team may reach its
conclusions.”
The AAIB said it had been working with the
helicopter manufacturer, engine manufacturer, the European Aviation
Safety Agency, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority and the helicopter
operator, along with other specialists, “to establish the causes and
contributory factors that led to the accident”
Its February
report said the investigation would “seek to determine why a situation
arose that led to both the helicopter’s engines flaming out when 76kg of
fuel remained in the fuel tank group”.
Pilot David Traill and
his passengers, police officers Kirsty Nelis and Tony Collins, lost
their lives. Those killed in the pub were John McGarrigle, Mark O’Prey,
Gary Arthur, Colin Gibson, Robert Jenkins and Samuel McGhee. Some 32
people were taken initially to hospitals across the city. Joe Cusker was
pulled from the wreckage alive but later died in hospital.
Law
firm Irwin Mitchell, which represents relatives of those who died,
called for the final report to be published sooner, and repeated its
demand for an urgent review of helicopters below a certain weight being
exempt from carrying “black box” equipment.
Elaine Russell, a
partner in the firm, said: “We cannot overstate how important it is for
the AAIB to get this publication out as soon as possible so that our
clients can understand what led to the incident, as well as what should
be done to ensure that no-one else faces the terrible ordeals they have
endured.
“The middle of 2015 is simply too long to wait for the answers that are needed.”
Jim
Morris, a partner in the firm’s aviation law team, said: “Current
regulations on the fitting black box equipment exempt helicopters
weighing less than 3,175kg from having to carry it, which, as this
tragedy and the latest AAIB update demonstrates, can make the job for
the accident investigators much more challenging and cause significant
delays in finding out the cause of accidents.
“This in turn leads
to delays in providing answers to the loved ones of those affected, as
well as affecting whether lessons can be learned and measures
implemented to improve flight safety.
“One year on, and all of our clients remain frustrated and desperate for answers regarding how this terrible tragedy happened.”
Story and Comments: http://www.scotsman.com
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/publications/special_bulletins
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/publications/special_bulletins/eurocopter
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