CHC Scotia Flight 23R
Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma · Failure to monitor instruments during approach, Pilot error
From Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) to Sumburgh Airport (LSI)
Event
- NTSB case
- CEN14WA225
- 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
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Unknown · led by another country; figures from NTSB notifications
- Event fatalities
- 4 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 18
- Survivors
- 14
- 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
- 14
- 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
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Not recorded
Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma
- Flight
- HKS23R
- Aircraft type
- Eurocopter AS332
- Category
- Helicopter
- 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-WNSB
- Operator
- CHC Scotia
- Onboard fatalities
- 4
- Route
- From Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ)To Sumburgh Airport (LSI)
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Not recorded
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach · IFR final approach
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Unknown or undetermined
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Task performance
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
On 23 August 2013, a Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma helicopter belonging to CHC Scotia crashed into the sea 2 nmi from Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, while en route from the Borgsten Dolphin drilling rig. The accident killed four passengers; twelve other passengers and two crew were rescued with injuries. A further passenger committed suicide in 2017 as a result of PTSD caused by the crash. An investigation by the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch concluded in 2016 that the accident was primarily caused by pilot error in failing to monitor instruments during approach. The public inquiry concluded in October 2020 that the crash was primarily caused by pilot error.
Flight history
The flight took off from Aberdeen Airport and stopped at two oil rigs to pick up passengers. Landing first on the Total North Alwyn Platform before flying the short distance to the Borgsten Dolphin; alongside the Dunbar platform as an accommodation tender. After taking off the helicopter was destined to land at Sumburgh Airport to refuel before flying on to Aberdeen Airport.
The weather conditions were a light breeze (17 knots) with mist.
Accident
The helicopter was on an otherwise normal approach to Sumburgh Airport, when at 18:17–18:20 local time, the aircraft lost contact with air traffic control. No mayday was sent out by the pilots as they attempted to make a controlled ditching into the North Sea, 1.5-2 nm west from Sumburgh. The helicopter fell into the sea and then turned upside down during the evacuation. The helicopter was found broken into several pieces up against rocks at Garths Ness.
Recovered flight data noted by the Air Accident Investigation Branch suggests that the helicopter engines remained powered until impact. The manufacturer's initial analysis based on that data indicated that a combination of factors had placed the helicopter into a vortex ring state at low altitude which made impact "unavoidable".
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The Police Scotland and Air Accidents Investigation Branch launched investigations into the cause of the accident. On 5 September 2013, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch special bulletin reported that there is no evidence of a causal technical failure that could have led to the crash. Both the wreckage and black boxes were still being examined.
In October 2020, an inquiry led by Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle concluded that the crash was predominantly caused by pilot error. The inquiry had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Text from the Wikipedia article “CHC Scotia Flight 23R” (revision 1336502897, 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: CHC Scotia Flight 23R
- Article
- CHC Scotia Flight 23R
- Revision
- 1336502897 · 2026-02-04 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q16000912
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
NTSB record CEN14WA225
- Event ID
- 20140430X30923
- Case number
- CEN14WA225
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "CHC Scotia Flight 23R" (page 40485744, revision 1336502897); merged with NTSB case CEN14WA225 (events / aircraft)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
- Map position
- Wikipedia: 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); gaps and aircraft details from NTSB record CEN14WA225
- Operation
- airline flight number in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia: not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (2)
- One occurrence in two sources, merged: the Wikipedia article "CHC Scotia Flight 23R" and NTSB case CEN14WA225, matched by the same aircraft registration and date. For this event outside the United States Wikipedia's values are used where the two differ; each value names its source.
- No bulk values were replaced by the NTSB case API.