Time off issue raised in helicopter incident report

Work on a helicopter that later suffered a landing gear collapse was carried out by an engineer who had taken only two rest days over a 31-day period, a report has said.

The incident, involving an Airbus H175, happened at Aberdeen Airport last July.

The report detailed how crew heard a crunching noise during landing, with passengers being forced to evacuate as the helicopter hovered over ground.

Air accident investigators said worker fatigue could have played a part.

The aircraft eventually landed safely on sandbags.

'Contributing factors'

The Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) report said a pin in the nose landing gear had not been repaired properly.

It stated: "The investigation also identified that the engineer tasked with the replacement of the A-frame was also responsible for supervising a team of non-type rated engineers and had not completed the task before.

"In addition, the engineer had only taken two rest days over the preceding 31-day period. This had not been identified by the shift managers and contravened the company's fatigue management procedures.

"It is possible that these factors contributed."

Following the incident, helicopter operators were asked to carry out one-off inspections and review maintenance records.