Shetland Super Puma crash: Survivor 'wanted to see family again'

The helicopter overturned after hitting the sea

An offshore worker who survived a fatal helicopter crash has told that he thought about seeing his family as he escaped the submerged aircraft.

Neil Ritchie told the third day of an inquiry into the 2013 crash off Shetland that the Super Puma hit sea, turned over and filled with water.

He saw legs going out of a window and managed to follow them.

Mr Ritchie, 39, said he thought at the time: "I am going to try and see my family again."

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

The inquiry has also heard that one survivor, Samuel Bull, later took his own life after suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Mr Ritchie, 39, who worked in well analysis offshore, recalled how he heard a loud vibration, passengers jumped, and he could see the pilot's face and him pulling on the stick in the cockpit.

"At that point there I knew there would only be one outcome", he said. "I managed to brace myself."

Mr Ritchie said they hit the water at an angle and they were quickly under water upside down.

'That will do me'

"I will never forget how clear the water was," he said.

He counted to three to make sure the rotor blades had stopped.

He said he inflated his life jacket by mistake, and managed to find an air pocket.

He saw legs going out a window and thought: "That will do me."

Four people lost their lives in the crash in the 2013 crash

Mr Ritchie described reaching the surface: "I really just wanted away from the thing."

Family considerations

He said he had not flown offshore since. Mr Ritchie said he could not do that to his young son, and he also now had a daughter.

He described survival training he received in Norway as a bit more stringent than in the UK, with submersions featuring a wave machine.

Asked by Martin Richardson for the Crown if his safety training was helpful on the day in questions, he said: "Yes, definitely."

Pathologist James Grieve, who carried out the post mortem examinations, confirmed Sarah Darnley, Duncan Munro and George Allison drowned after the crash.

'Stress and efforts'

He highlighted the "stress and efforts" of trying to escape, and said Gary McCrossan, who had cardiac disease, died from heart failure

The pathologist said the suddenness of the whole episode may have meant people did not get time for a last big breath to help tide them through escape efforts.

The inquiry has heard no evidence was found of a fault with the helicopter which had caused or contributed to the crash.

The inquiry, which was previously delayed due to coronavirus measures, continues before Derek Pyle, Sheriff Principal of Grampian, Highland and Islands.