MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

BP suspends all operations with Super Puma choppers

Super Puma Bond

British Petroleum has suspended using Super Puma Bond helicopters for North Sea flights after one of the aircraft carrying 18 people ditched off the Scottish coast. The company said it had decided to temporarily stop using that type of helicopter on flights from Aberdeen “as a precaution” in light of Wednesday's incident.

All 18 people on board the Super Puma helicopter were rescued after it plunged into the sea around 125 miles east of Aberdeen while on the way to a BP production installation on Wednesday night. Three were flown to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with minor injuries and were later discharged. The remaining 15 were shipped into Aberdeen Harbour and were said to be "in good spirits". An operation to recover the helicopter has begun, the aircraft's operators, Bond Offshore, confirmed. A spokesman said the Super Puma is expected to be lifted on to a BP support vessel, which will return it to the mainland. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has sent a team of nine officials to investigate what went wrong. Grampian Police is also investigating the circumstances of the incident. Officers spent around an hour on board the Caledonia Victory with the survivors while it was berthed at Aberdeen Harbour. The RMT union's offshore organiser, Jake Molloy, said: "We will be looking very closely at the accident investigation.