FAA chopper safety decision angers labour group

The U.S. Federal Aviation Authority is rejecting a key recommendation from a report on the 2009 Cougar helicopter crash off Newfoundland, claiming that retrofitting helicopters would be too expensive.

The FAA will require the next generation of Sikorsky S-92A aircraft to be able to fly for 30 minutes after a catastrophic loss of oil pressure.

The S-92A is the model involved in the March 2009 crash, which killed 17 people when its gearbox failed and the chopper plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.

But the FAA said what's called a "run-dry" period of 30 minutes would be too costly to impose on choppers already in service, despite a call to that effect from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which pointed to the gearbox failure as one of a series of events that led to the calamity.

"I'm really angry that a safety regulator would use such a rationale, that we don't need to do this because it's too expensive," Lana Payne, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour, told CBC News.

The TSB's recommendations were sent to regulators in Canada and beyond, because of the international use of U.S.-based Sikorsky aircraft.

Payne hopes regulators in Canada are less concerned with cost.

FAA disputes retrofit need

A memo issued by the FAA disputes the need for a retrofit program.

"The FAA does not believe it is practical or necessary to require that all existing and newly manufactured transport Category A helicopters be equipped with main gearboxes that meet the 30-minute 'loss of lubrication' requirement," the FAA said in the memo.

Meanwhile, the head of the body that regulates Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil industry said he was surprised by the FAA's decision.

However, Max Ruelokke, who chairs the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, said he has also heard that Sikorsky is planning its own changes to its next generation of gearboxes for the S-92A, which in Canada is used to ferry workers to platforms drilling for oil far off the coast.

"That will address the issue of cracks in the mounting feet. They think that won't be ready to be installed, or retrofitted on all their aircraft by end of this year, or early next year," said Ruelokke.

The Canadian Armed Forces is insisting that Sikorsky's military version of the same aircraft have a 30-minute run-dry guarantee.

"It is a militarized version of the civilian helicopter, but they're also looking at the civilian gearbox," Ruelokke told CBC News.

"So between the two, I think they're expecting to have a 30-minute run-dry capability in late 2012 or early 2013. At least that's the anecdotal information [I've] got."

The CNLOPB is still deciding whether it will require such a capability in all helicopters flying to offshore oil installations.