Bay crash pilot 'was distracted'

Captain Stephen Potton may have been distracted by his co-pilot

Concerns for his co-pilot may have distracted a helicopter captain before his aircraft plunged into the sea killing seven people, a report said.

Stephen Potton, 51, of Blackpool, may also have been disorientated as the Aerospatiale SA365N crashed in Morecambe Bay on 27 December 2006.

He had taken over from Simon Foddering, 33, after the co-pilot lost control in bad weather conditions in the dark.

Investigators also cited a lack of training for crews as a factor.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) on Friday released its 93-page report into the crash, which happened 450m away from the North Morecambe gas platform.

The bodies of the pilots and Centrica-employed rig workers Robert Warburton, 60, from Heysham, Lancashire; Leslie Ahmed, 48, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear; John Shaw, 51, from Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, and Alfred Neasham, 57, from Durham, were all recovered about four hours after the accident.

But the body of the fifth passenger, Keith Smith, 57, from Stockton-on-Tees, has never been found.

The extensive benefits of conducting training and checking in such an environment were therefore missed AAIB report

The helicopter, which took off from Blackpool Airport at 1800 GMT, was taking Centrica workers to the gas platform when it flew past and crashed into the sea.

The AAIB report said Mr Foddering, from Preston, lost control of the helicopter and requested help from Mr Potton, who had 20 years of experience flying helicopters in Morecambe Bay.

Investigators said the transfer of control was not precise and the captain appeared "not to be mentally primed" to take over, leading to a four second delay.

The report also said the approach profile flown by Mr Foddering suggested "a problem in assessing the correct approach descent angle" probably because of "the limited visual cues available to him".

An appropriate synthetic training device for the helicopter was available but was not used to assess the crews by operator CHC Scotia Limited, the report said.

"The extensive benefits of conducting training and checking in such an environment were therefore missed," the AAIB said.

Safety recommendations

The report said that just before taking over Mr Potton had asked his co-pilot: "You all right?" Mr Foddering had replied: "No I'm not happy mate."

Once Mr Potton had taken control Mr Foddering swore as if disappointed and the captain once again asked: "You all right?"

The report said: "The co-pilot had replied 'Yep...no' in a resigned manner."

In its findings, the AAIB said: "During the attempted recovery of the helicopter from its unusual attitude the commander (Mr Potton) was devoid of any external visual cues and was possibly distracted over concerns for the well-being of his co-pilot.

"Concerns for his co-pilot and some degree of disorientation possibly distracted the commander from his usual instrument scan to the extent that he did not notice the increasing angle of bank to the right and the helicopter's continuing descent into the sea."

Investigators found no evidence of technical failure that may have caused the crash.

The AAIB made a number of recommendations aimed at improving helicopter approaches, operating procedures and training.