Helicopter Safety Review Report

It appears this report has been aired by way of hoping to alleviate the concerns of the helicopter commute bound offshore workforce. The report seems not to address one of the main safety concerns, i.e. at the time of an crash landing onto the sea too many passengers are without direct access to an escape window or door. It seems that the proposed solution is to add even more safety equipment (Cat A or B re-breather equipment of which are only defined in draft format at present!) into the cabin in what is already a pretty tightly packed passenger compartment. No matter what further training is given adding more equipment in a space where their is already barely elbow room at best will only create more issues in time of emergency IMHO.

In other words.. Re-breather equipment may give a person a few more breaths (only if there is sufficient time to deploy it and it stays functional on impact) but it will not get them any closer to an escape hatch/door.

Clearly, the safest/quickest solution is to ensure that all passengers have direct access to an escape hatch/door at all times. This would very simple to implement instantly – as in tomorrow! – and would require no extra safety equipment nor training costs. A simple instruction to the helicopter operators could be in force from that moment onwards. Job done!
However, this would cause a permanent 40% reduction in seating capacity thus incurring a financial penalty at a level that is seems somewhat unpalatable to those that cover the cost of such flights in the UKCS.