Super Puma fatal accident inquiry: 'No abnormalities' night before crash

Sixteen men died when the Super Puma crashed

The main gearbox of a helicopter which crashed with the loss of 16 lives had "no abnormalities" the previous night, a fatal accident inquiry has heard.

All on board the Bond Super Puma died when it came down in April 2009 off Peterhead.

Bond engineer Torquil Allen took part in an after-flight inspection of the Super Puma the night before the crash.

He told the fatal accident inquiry there were no abnormalities on the main gearbox, according to paperwork.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report blamed a catastrophic gearbox failure for the crash.

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 ninth day, continues.