Search: Helicopter gearbox probe
Crash investigators have ordered further and "urgent" inspections on helicopter gearboxes following the North Sea crash which claimed 16 lives earlier this month.
Aviation experts have said Super Puma helicopters of the type in the accident could be grounded if the checks do not lead to a better understanding of gearbox failures.
In an initial report into the April 1 crash, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the gearbox of the Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma had suffered a catastrophic failure before crashing into the sea off the coast of Aberdeenshire.
In a second initial report, the AAIB said gearbox inspections of the type recommended in the first report were already being carried out on the Super Puma involved just before the crash.
The checks had been done after a small chip of metallic debris had been found, 34 flying hours before the crash, on the gearbox metallic detector which is used to attract any bits of metal which can get into the system.
The appearance of such pieces of debris is seen as an early warning of a possible gearbox failure.
The AAIB report said: "However, during the period between the discovery of the chip and the accident, no signs of an incipient gearbox failure were detected."
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The AAIB added that it was recommending the new checks "as a matter of urgency to ensure the continued airworthiness of the main rotor gearbox".
The checks will be conducted on AS332l2 Super Pumas as well as the EC225LP Super Puma which was the helicopter which crashed in the North Sea on February 18 in an accident which all 18 on board survived.
