The Accident Investigation Board Norway arrived at the accident site on Turøy in Hordaland Friday evening.

Helicopter wreckage was retrieved from land and the sea bottom Saturday and was then transferred to Haakonsvern naval base (Bergen) by ship. The combined Flight Data and Cockpit Voice Recorder was retrieved from the wreckage Friday night. The unit was taken to AAIB in England where the process of downloading data has started.

Representatives from the French BEA and British AAIB joined the Norwegian investigation team on the accident site Saturday. BEAs specialists are to join the investigation due to the French helicopter manufacturer. Experts from the helicopter and motor manufacturer supports the BEA. The AAIB is joining the investigation because of their recent experience on the helicopter type and offshore operations.

It is difficult to determine an exact timetable for the work ahead but the AIBN team is working as fast as possible to find, if any, safety critical issues as soon as possible. To ensure that important technical findings are communicated to the authorities, both the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Norwegian Civil Aviation Agency are invited to join the investigation. Any critical safety information will be communicated. Completing a full investigation including all the factors leading up to the accident will take time, experience suggests at least twelve months.

Today, Sunday, the work continues with search for more parts of the helicopter wreckage both at sea and on land. At the same time, the main wreckage and the large components are brought to Haakonsvern (Bergen) for further investigation.

The data from the recorder, together with an analysis of the accident site and wreckage components, may give knowledge about what happened at the time of the accident and possibly at the time prior to the accident.

The memory unit retrieved from the Flight Data and Cockpit Voice Recorder. Photo: the AIBN

Parts of the helicopter retrieved from the ocean. Photo: the AIBN