Sumburgh Super Puma crash: Fatal accident inquiry seven-year wait 'deplorable'

Four people died in the 2013 crash

A seven-year wait for a fatal accident inquiry into a helicopter crash which killed four people off Shetland has been described as "deplorable" by the Sheriff Principal who will oversee it.

A total of 18 people were on board when the Super Puma crashed in 2013.

Passengers Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin, Gary McCrossan, 59, from Inverness, Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland, and George Allison, 57, from Winchester, died.

Derek Pyle said the wait was too long.

He was speaking at a preliminary hearing in Aberdeen ahead of dates and a venue for the full FAI being decided.

It will provisionally be held in Inverness in May.

• Pilots criticised over helicopter crash

The Sheriff Principal hopes to be able to deliver an inquiry ruling by the end of June.

He said he hoped the Crown would have some "internal reflection" about what could be learned from the delay.

BBC Scotland had revealed in December that the FAI process was under way.

In 2016, a report said flight instruments were "not monitored effectively" by the pilots in the moments leading up to the crash.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said a lack of monitoring meant a reduction in air speed was not noticed by the pilots.

Attempts to recover were too late.

The report also said the impact with the water had been "survivable".

It said one of the four victims had been unable to escape, one was incapacitated by a head injury, one drowned before reaching the surface, and the other died in the life raft from a chronic heart condition.