Super Puma fatal accident inquiry: Bond engineers were 'under the spotlight'

The Bond Super Puma came down off Peterhead, killing 16 men

Engineers at helicopter operator Bond were under the spotlight at the time of a fatal crash because of an earlier ditching, an inquiry has heard.

All 16 people on board a Bond Super Puma died when it came down in April 2009.

Weeks earlier, a similar aircraft ditched in the North Sea.

Maintenance manager John Crowther said people were being "cautious", but said it had a positive effect rather than a negative one.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report blamed a catastrophic gearbox failure for the crash, which happened 12 miles off Peterhead.

The two crew who died were Capt Paul Burnham, 31, of Methlick, Aberdeenshire, and co-pilot Richard Menzies, 24, of Droitwich Spa, who worked for Bond Offshore Helicopters.

The KCA Deutag employees killed were Brian Barkley, 30, of Aberdeen; Vernon Elrick, 41, of Aberdeen; Leslie Taylor, 41, of Kintore, Aberdeenshire; Nairn Ferrier, 40, of Dundee; Gareth Hughes, 53, of Angus; David Rae, 63, of Dumfries; Raymond Doyle, 57, of Cumbernauld; James John Edwards, 33, of Liverpool; Nolan Goble, 34, of Norwich, and Mihails Zuravskis, 39, of Latvia.

The other victims were James Costello, 24, of Aberdeen, who was contracted to Production Services Network (PSN); Alex Dallas, 62, of Aberdeen, who worked for Sparrows Offshore Services; Warren Mitchell, 38, of Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, who worked for Weatherford UK; and Stuart Wood, 27, of Aberdeen, who worked for Expro North Sea Ltd.

The inquiry, in its eighth day, continues.