1988 British International Helicopters Sikorsky S-61N crash
Sikorsky S-61N · Forced water landing due to uncontrolled engine fire
From Safe Felicia accommodation vessel to Sumburgh Airport (LSI)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 21
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Sikorsky S-61N
- Aircraft type
- Sikorsky S-61
- Category
- Helicopter · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- G-BEID
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From Safe Felicia accommodation vesselTo Sumburgh Airport (LSI)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft propeller/rotor
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Organizational issues › Development
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
G-BEID was a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter of British International Helicopters which made a controlled ditching in the sea 29 nmi northeast of Sumburgh on 13 July 1988 following an engine fire. There were no fatalities.
Accident
The helicopter left the Safe Felicia semi-submersible oil platform in the Forties oilfield at 13:45 with 2 pilots and a full load of 19 passengers for the one hour flight to Sumburgh Airport on the Mainland of Shetland.
At 14:28 the co-pilot (who was flying) reported hearing a muffled bang which was also heard by some of the passengers, from the area of the No. 2 engine transmission. Shortly after, the No. 2 engine's fire warning lights came on. The pilot immediately began a descent and transmitted a distress call.
About 48 seconds after the noise, the No. 2 engine was shut down and the fire extinguisher triggered. The No. 1 engine fire warning then also illuminated, while passengers saw oil leaking from the cabin ceiling.
The pilot advised the passengers to prepare for an emergency ditching and took control of the aircraft. The floats were deployed and a gentle ditching was made about 3 minutes after the initial noise had been heard, by which time the helicopter's cabin had filled with smoke. All 21 occupants evacuated on to liferafts and were then winched up into a Search and Rescue helicopter. After a strong fire consumed most of the floating helicopter, the remains broke up and sank.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
A recovery operation was mounted using the DSV (diving support vessel) Stena Marianos which arrived on site on 16 July 1988. The aft fuselage section was raised the following day and the forward section shortly after. The recovery operation had to be ended on 19 July before finding the engines or transmission components due to the Stena Marianos having other commitments.
The recovery continued on 2 August using the DSV Norskald, and the engines, main rotor, and transmission were located and raised on 5 August.
Cause
It was concluded that the fire had occurred in the helicopter's main gearbox, probably resulting from the effects of a bearing failure in the No. 2 engine. A further factor was the lack of fire detection or suppression capability within the gearbox bay. The cause of the bearing failure could not be definitely established.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1988 British International Helicopters Sikorsky S-61N crash” (revision 1344268421, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1988 British International Helicopters Sikorsky S-61N crash
- Revision
- 1344268421 · 2026-03-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4584351
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1988 British International Helicopters Sikorsky S-61N crash" (page 19089444, revision 1344268421)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.